The Telemedicine Advantage
5 Health Conditions Where Telehealth has Advantages
We’ve talked previously about how telehealth solutions can deliver great primary care and care for minor illnesses and injuries that’s on par with in person care, but we’d like to take it a step further. Given the right medical circumstances, telemedicine isn’t “just as good” as in person primary care. In many cases virtual medicine is better. In addition to financial advantages and savings on your time, as this pandemic has shown us there is the risk from unnecessarily being around other sick people. Not only can telemedicine be more convenient and safer, but there are real medical advantages for you, as a patient, to receive virtual care for many conditions. Below are examples of 5 medical conditions where telehealth has delivered better care than in person treatment.
1. Hypertension
Hypertension (aka high blood pressure) occurs when the pressure in your arteries (created when your heart muscle squeezes blood through them) is elevated. Ongoing treatment of hypertension requires monitoring of your resting blood pressure, but did you know that measuring it from home is more accurate than when it is measured during in person appointments? That's because when you are in the comfort of your own home, your blood pressure reading is a better indication of your true blood pressure than measurements at the doctor’s office where there are a number of unfamiliar external things impacting it! If you need any other monitoring, like a lab testing to check on your kidneys, that test can be ordered for you to get at a nearby lab at your convenience. Similarly, medications you need can be shipped to your home. However, if you are newly diagnosed with hypertension, then you need an in person evaluation to listen to your heart and over your kidneys and make sure you don’t have something else that needs to be treated. But that in person care generally isn’t required more than once every couple of years, so your ongoing treatment can be via telehealth.
2. Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition where the sugar level in your blood is too high because your body doesn't have enough insulin (or is resistant to the effect of insulin) meaning excess sugar cannot be broken down. Several large research studies, including one that looked at over 23,000 patients, showed that patients using telemedicine had significant improvements in blood sugars, especially for patients who started with worse diabetes. Another study in 2012 looking Black and Latinx people who used telemedicine showed better control of blood sugars over a five-year period of time, than people who just went to see a doctor in person. Why does this happen? It’s because in these cases telemedicine is more than just a visit. These patients not only received video visits with a provider, but also had access to secure portals, monitoring, and text messages to help them make adjustments to their medications and lifestyle more quickly so they could reach their goals more easily. They didn’t have to wait for their next visit to make changes because many telehealth solutions offer ongoing care that occurs outside of the doctor’s visit.
3. Asthma
Asthma is another common condition which has been demonstrated in multiple studies to have equivalent if not better outcomes with telehealth solutions when compared to in person care. One study of young adults (average age 32, 50% African Americans) showed two important and striking outcomes. First, though 80% of participants had uncontrolled asthma when they started a telemedicine program, after 6-months 80% were well-controlled with improved lung function using standard tests. What’s more, 95.7% of patients said it worked better than usual in office care and that they felt they had reduced symptoms over time with greater self-efficacy.
**One note of caution here: If you are having a bad asthma attack, have a plan for your care and don’t choose telemedicine when you really need to go to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care.
4. Dermatology
Dermatology is another field where Telemedicien is proving to be very useful, largely because it improves access. There is a serious shortage of dermatologists in the US with only 36 dermatologists per one million people (compared to 68 for cardiologists), and an average wait time of 5 weeks for an appointment. In one study of 460 patients using teledermatology, 84 visits occurred within 1 week after referral. Here the initial referral helped to determine who needed to be seen in the office and avoided about 230 unnecessary in office visits which freed up time for patients who needed to come in for biopsies or more intensive treatments.
5. Acute Sinus Infections
Acute sinus infections are common and often treated with antibiotics when these may not be necessary. Many were concerned that telemedicine might increase unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions, but that has not been the case. In a study of 570 patients, doctors' use of the most up to date treatments were equal for telemedicine and in person visits. As for patient experience, another study of 69 patients, half of whom had video visits and half, clinic visits, showed no difference in satisfaction between the two. Telemedicine has been shown to be an effective way of dealing with sinus infections.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
Other Conditions that can be Treated with Telemedicine
While telehealth isn’t appropriate for all conditions such as serious illnesses or emergencies, as stated above, there are many scenarios that can be conveniently and effectively treated virtually.
Skin: Minor/superficial wounds, Rashes, Acne, Chronic dermatologic conditions
Infections Sinus, Urinary tract, Pink eye
Digestive system Constipation, Acid reflux, Food poisoning, Stomach flu, Colonoscopies
Allergies Seasonal allergies, Sinus congestion, Food allergy treatments
Cold & Flu Cough, Fever, Congestion, Sore throat, Nausea
Chest Hypertension, Asthma, Minor COPD
Musculoskeletal Sports injuries, Plantar fasciitis, Lower back pain
Women's Health Birth control, Mammogram screening
Mental health Depression screening & treatment
The Spora Health approach to Telehealth
Spora Health begins with wellness. Your wellness. That distinguishes us from many other telemedicine companies which focus on sick visits. We certainly will take good care of you when you are sick, but we don’t start there. Our care gives you access to the Spora App where doctors, nurses, educators, dietary specialists, and many others work with you to help you reach your health goals. Our personalized health plans are custom designed for you with advice about meals, exercises, mind health, and wellness care tailored to you and your goals.
Additionally, what distinguishes Spora Health from all others is our “Equity Built In” model at the center of everything we do. We know how dangerous biased medicine can be, so we run our wellness and clinical treatment programs through extensive reviews to remove bias from clinical protocols.
Your care journey at Spora Health begins with us getting to know more about your lived experiences including your daily routine, diet, moods, and any symptoms you may have. We compile this information and create a series of Health Factors which are topics for you to explore with your healthcare team. These factors are not diagnosis, but rather potential conditions and health risks which may be important as you create an Equity-Centered Power Plan with your Spora Team. Unlike other platforms which use large populations of mostly White People, Spora Health calculates your health risks based on a highly diverse group of people of many colors and ethnic backgrounds.
Our platform then organizes information for you in a simple and powerful way, giving you feedback on how things are going, and lettin you reach out to your health care team whenever you need to. What's more, your Spora Health Team checks in with you for feedback on how you are doing with health assessments you can take anytime, anywhere.
We’re more than a telemedicine platform. We’re a radically inclusive, virtual first health experience that can help People of Color take control of their health without many of the barriers that have traditionally existed for generations. We’re out to change history and telemedicine is going to help us get there.
Are you ready to start your healthcare journey with a culturally competent primary care provider? Sign up today.
