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Patients who otherwise would have come into the office for routine care are now visiting with their doctors from home through videoconferencing and remote monitoring. This includes people with COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. In the past few weeks, UVA's telehealth program has monitored around 50 patients in their homes with video-enabled tablets. Nurses check in on the patients with video visits, log their vital signs and make "determinations about the suitability for them staying at home versus coming to the hospital for admission" where they could expose others to the virus, Rheuban says. Virtual consultations and mobile telemedicine units, which are equipped with medical instruments and a camera that transmits information to health care providers, make it faster and easier for physicians to relay critical information and provide care to staff and residents daily and on an urgent-need basis, Rheuban explains. "It's not just what it was, you know, 30 years ago, when [telehealth] was reaching out to rural communities that didn't have access," the Cleveland Clinic's Faiman says. More patients and providers are realizing its value in emergency situations and in the everyday. Telehealth saves time for both patients and providers, he notes. It also allows people with chronic conditions and their doctors to monitor their health from home. "Patients are asking for it," and more health care providers are working it into their practices, Faiman says. It doesn't have to be complicatedNot everyone is tapping into remote medical care, however. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) revealed that while most adults (68 percent) age 65 and older have a computer, smartphone or tablet with internet access at home, very few (11 percent) have used it to talk by video to a doctor or health care provider in the past two weeks. This is about the same percentage as adults ages 30 to 64. Faiman says that anyone who is hesitant to try telehealth can start with the basics: a phone call. "Even the old telephone is a tool for us to get information, hear someone's voice, hear their concerns," he says. Plus, it can serve as a "stepping-stone" for getting patients comfortable with more advanced technologies, so that if a doctor asks to connect in a way that provides more visual cues, "that next hurdle is not so difficult." Another benefit of telehealth: Virtual visits eliminate the travel time it takes to get to the doctor's office, not to mention the time wasted in the waiting room, UVA's Rheuban points out. Further, it "empowers patients with remote monitoring to be greater engaged in their care because they are checking their blood pressure, they're checking their blood sugar, their oxygen saturation, and so they are much more aware of their own clinical conditions," she adds. This type of telehealth requires special at-home devices that take these measurements and transmit them to the doctor. Not just for patientsEven when social distancing guidelines are eased and health care facilities return to in-person appointments, the Cleveland Clinic's Faiman believes that the demand for telehealth will remain. "People are so much more aware now of the value proposition of what this can offer," he says. Still, Faiman says, it will be important to provide trainings and tools for medical workers so that care remains thoughtful throughout telehealth's growth. "The people are the ones that ultimately deliver the care; technology is just a tool to deliver care for patients," he adds. The continuation of relaxed restrictions around telehealth's use will also be critical in allowing doctors to care for more patients through technology. "Hopefully, a lot of the data that are collected in this public health emergency can be used to justify continuation of these services," Rheuban says. (source: AARP Article by Rachel Nania) Grandma Johnson's Scones
A basic scone recipe that really does the trick. Tried and tested through 3 generations of kids. Simply the best anywhere!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Full recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20163/grandma-johnsons-scones |
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