Lack of certainty surrounds telemedicine’s future
"There's fear that telehealth is going to be abused and overused, and the evidence doesn't necessarily point to that, but because of that fear, it does hold things back," says Chad Ellimoottil, MD, MS.
In this video, Chad Ellimoottil, MD, MS, shares takeaways from the 2023 AUA Quality Improvement Summit. Ellimoottil is an associate professor of urology and director of telehealth for the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Transcription:
What were some takeaways from the 2023 AUA Quality Improvement Summit?
I think a lot of readers and urologists across the country really want some certainty around what telehealth is going to look like. One example is being able to see patients across state lines, and because there are still a lot of these controversies out there, I think that it's hard to get that certainty. Most of the speakers [at the summit] talked about the need for telehealth. There were conversations about how there are provider shortages and access issues in urology, and there's certainly a strong need for it. There's a lot of support for it. What's lacking is the certainty, and I think one of the sessions we had, which was on policy challenges, Ray Wezik from the AUA had a really nice quote, where he talked about one of the biggest things that keeps policy moving forward is fear. There's fear that telehealth is going to be abused and overused, and the evidence doesn't necessarily point to that, but because of that fear, it does hold things back.
This transcription was edited for clarity.
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