Optimizing the Potential for Telehealth in Cardiovascular Care (in the Era of COVID-19): Time Will Tell

• Authors: Parth Patel, Emory University; Devinder Dhindsa, Emory University; Danny Eapen, Emory University; Amit Khera, Univ Texas Southwestern Med Ctr Dallas; Martha Gulati, University of Arizona; Neil J Stone, Northwestern University; Clyde W Yancy, Northwestern University; John S Rumsfeld, American College of Cardiology; Laurence Sperling, Emory University
• Journal Title: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
• Volume: Volume 134, Number 8
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | 2021-07-30, Pages 945-951
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2021.03.007
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Medicine, General & Internal; General & Internal Medicine; Cardiology; Cardiovascular disease; Health Policy; Telehealth; Telemedicine; HEART-FAILURE; DIGITAL STETHOSCOPE; UNITED-STATES; PATIENT

Abstract

Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, use of telehealth services had been limited in cardiovascular care. Potential benefits of telehealth include improved access to care, more efficient care management, reduced costs, the ability to assess patients within their homes while involving key caretakers in medical decisions, maintaining social distance, and increased patient satisfaction. Challenges include changes in payment models, issues with data security and privacy, potential depersonalization of the patient-clinician relationship, limitations in the use of digital health technologies, and the potential impact on disparities, including socioeconomic, gender, and age-related issues and access to technology and broadband. Implementation and expansion of telehealth from a policy and reimbursement practice standpoint are filled with difficult decisions, yet addressing these are critical to the future of health care.