We are in an uncertain and unpredictable time in healthcare. Coronavirus has dramatically changed the landscape in many ways, including how people think about seeking and receiving care. One of the most transformational changes we’re seeing is telemedicine.
Take Donald for example. Several weeks ago he fell and needed stitches and went to the ER. Three weeks later, it was time to get the stitches removed — a step that would have normally required a trip to the doctor. But because of COVID-19, Donald’s primary care physician’s office was closed and only accepting virtual appointments. Donald didn’t know where else to go besides the hospital.
That’s when Humana called.
Our team worked with Donald to make sure he understood the high risk associated with visiting the hospital and instead helped with a plan to get his stitches removed at home. After speaking to Donald, his Humana care manager realized a nurse lives next door. We arranged a time for his neighbor to safely come to Donald’s home, and we made sure Donald and his neighbor knew how to use telemedicine to contact a doctor in real time in case there were issues removing the stitches. Now, Donald is recovering safely at home and avoided a trip to the ER, helping reduce his risk of getting sick.
Donald’s story underscores the importance of telemedicine in our new reality. While the health care industry has been working to expand telemedicine for years, the coronavirus is accelerating its use and causing people to use to telemedicine in innovative ways, such as providing backup support for routine medical procedures traditionally preformed in the doctor’s office. Many of the primary care practices that we work with are reporting that, on majority of their patient visits are now being conducted via telehealth. Just a few months ago, some of the most progressive primary care practices were not using telehealth.
Those are promising trends — especially right now when we have patients who may be infected with the coronavirus, but are asymptomatic. We want to ensure that the last place they turn to is a clinical setting, where they might expose others or be exposed themselves. Telemedicine is also a lifeline for members who still need routine care or help with a chronic condition.
This may be one of the really transformative pieces of our healthcare system throughout this pandemic. We’ve opened up the opportunity for everyone’s doctor—a primary care doctor, a specialist, a behavioral health physician—to call their patients just using a cell phone. We will pay the provider the full cost that they would have charged had it been a face-to-face visit and we are eliminating all cost sharing for our members.
We have a role to play by leveraging the right set of financial incentives and policies to keep our members safe and at home and to reduce the spread of the disease. And telehealth is a critical way. We believe and trust wholeheartedly the providers who are out there really doing great work, risking themselves, risking their families to try to take care of patients. Our goal is to get out of the way.