Susan Wehry, M.D., chief of the within the University of New England , was recently featured in a Healthline article about the benefits of telehealth for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
Until only recently, Medicare recipients were unable to use telehealth services unless they wanted to pay out of their own pockets for virtual care. That changed on March 6, when a federal emergency declaration was made in response to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Older adults receiving benefits from Medicare and Medicaid can make use of this expanded range of care, Wehry told Healthline reporter Cathy Cassata.
“People often wonder whether older adults are comfortable using this kind of technology, but in my experience, they are very much so. They are grateful, oftentimes, not to have to travel to see their doctors,” she said.
Wehry also discussed telehealth as a way to reduce emergency department visits by older adults, many of whom often go to the hospital when they experience complications with their medications. However, she cautioned that there can be drawbacks to telehealth, such those caused doctors writing prescriptions for people they have never met in person.
Of particular concern are prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, which is being explored as a potential treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that disproportionately affects older adults.
“[Hydroxychloroquine] may turn out to be a drug that’s helpful with treatment for some people, but the downside to prescribing drugs to patients you’ve never seen across states lines is that all drugs have side effects, and this particular drug can cause certain heart arrhythmias,” Wehry said.
Wehry explained that telehealth services are most effective when there is a pre-existing relationship between patients and providers.
“The more we can get people to think about the pros and cons of telehealth and the ways to improve it, as well as build in protections against potential harm, the better we’ll be able to expand the service now and after the pandemic,” she said.
