If you’ve ever found it difficult to squeeze in time for a trip to the doctor’s office, then you will definitely be interested in the rise of telemedicine.  According to Chris Mazzolini’s article “Telemedicine’s Next Big Leap” in Medical Economics, telemedicine is the future of technology integration into healthcare. Originally an idea to help rural primary care physicians (PCPs) get in touch with specialists, telemedicine has evolved and expanded to include video chats and real-time patient monitoring.

Seth Eaton, MD, describes himself as an “early adaptor,” and says he hopes to use telemedicine to “reach a number of our patients that have an unrecognized need.” And Eaton did just that when he consulted with a patient in their Arizona home from his Maryland office, using a video conference over the Internet. In doing so, Eaton reinforces a statement made by Mario Gutierrez, executive director of the Center for Connected Health Policy, when he said that “You are getting a triple benefit of using technology to provide better healthcare and more reach.” Eaton agrees with Gutierrez and believes telemedicine will be successful because “it will meet his patients where they want to be met.”

Telemedicine, while still an emerging idea, is already employed by Eaton for several purposes: follow-up diabetes appointments, well-child exams, and even urgent care if approved by the on-call physician. He plans to broaden telemedicine’s applications to population management by staying in contact with patients leaving the hospital to provide a seamless transition of care.  Eaton ultimately views telemedicine as a major part of both population management and transfer of care, two essential parts of keeping healthcare costs down and improving patient outcomes. Combining this potential with the belief of advocacy groups’ (such as the American Telemedicine Association) in an increasing dependency on technology and the internet in daily life means telemedicine is certainly a field to observe and keep track of as a major player in the future of healthcare and physician-patient outreach and interaction.

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