Some Telemedicine Barriers Are Down During COVID-19 Pandemic

‘We have shown that telerheumatology can be done for many patients who I have never seen in person.’  —Dr. Rezaian

“I think [telerheumatology is] the wave of the future,” he adds. “At some point it’s going to explode. The whole point of our study was to show that it’s doable, even in northeastern Iran.”

Dr. Rezaian recommends keeping the technology simple and the costs down. “I could have gotten fancy video equipment and software, but the new iPhone has a good camera that’s sufficient for most of our purposes. A lot of patients I talk to are very open to the idea—especially when the alternative is to have to come to my office in person.”

Larry Beresford is a medical journalist in Oakland, Calif.

References

1. Rezaian MM, Brent LH, Roshani S, et al. Rheumatology care using telemedicine. Telemed J E Health. 2020 Mar;26(3):335–340.
2. Kulcsar Z, Albert DA, Ercolano E. Telerheumatology: A technology appropriate for virtually all. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2016 Dec;46(3):380–385.
3. West SG, Pearson DW, Striebich CC, et al. The effect of pre‐appointment consultation triage on patient selection and revenue generation in a university rheumatology practice. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019 May;71(5):689–693.
4. Bankhurst A, Olivas C, Larson JH, et al. Rheumatology care in under‐resourced areas utilizing the ECHO model. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019 Mar 30 [online ahead of print].
5. Nguyen-Oghalai TU, Hunter K, Lyon M. Telerheumatology: The VA experience. South Med J. 2018 Jun;111(6):359–362.