How Does Telehealth Mix With Pediatrics?

How well have you integrated telemedicine to help your pediatric patients? Since March 2020, telehealth has become a ubiquitous feature of healthcare. Many doctors and providers have moved at least part of their practice to telemedicine in the last two years. Doxy.me currently counts more than a million providers in 150 countries. That’s more than a ten-fold increase since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Providers who have embraced telemedicine recognize that how they see patients has fundamentally changed. Pediatricians are also adjusting to this technique. How can pediatricians and other providers who work with children take advantage of telehealth to help the kids they see?

What are some limitations?

Pediatricians have found that telehealth solutions face the same limitations as regular care, with these added worries:

  • Inherent limitations of the technology, including network speed and availability
  • Whether patients and parents feel comfortable using virtual care
  • Your office’s ability to set up new workflows around telehealth
  • Bandwidth is insufficient in many areas for a good telehealth experience

Also, while digital instruments are making headway in many situations, it’s still rare to find patients with digital stethoscopes or otoscopes in their home. Of course, if you’re seeing a patient frequently for conditions that require sensitive instruments, you probably have made arrangements to make their telehealth care more effective.

Surprisingly, cost is not a serious limitation. Some solutions can work on any device, such as desktop PCs and mobile devices. Those are almost certainly part of your healthcare arsenal already. And doxy.me is famously free to use for any provider and super easy to implement.

What are some benefits?

As telehealth becomes easier to find, some benefits have become obvious. Here are some examples:

In 2017, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advised that a pediatrician’s office was the best place for a child’s medical care. However, the pandemic made it possible to receive excellent care through the internet. 

Because of the pandemic, the growth and evolution of telehealth were accelerated. Government regulations and policies that once limited the effectiveness of telemedicine were pushed aside as the nation dealt with the emergency. However, some of those exceptions are expiring. 

We’ll see how insurance companies work with providers and telehealth. In the meantime, providers, including pediatricians, will continue to find new ways to employ telehealth for the good of the patients they care for.

If you’re reading this and you haven’t investigated telehealth for your pediatric practice, sign up for doxy.me today. It’s free, and it will help you move into the future of healthcare.

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