30 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MAY 2020
HOW COVID-19 FEEDS THE TELEHEALTH TREND
Telehealth allows for initial screening to
differentiate the need for an emergency
room visit due to a broken bone or possible
COVID-19, for example.
“If they don’t meet certain criteria, we may
take their phone number and call them in
their car and use their technology or we
could bring them an iPad…and we could
set up a queue according to severity,”
Kugler says, adding that by utilizing technology,
physicians are able to triage and
treat effectively without overexposing
patients and providers.
The healthcare industry is not new to telehealth.
But healthcare privacy laws, limited
reimbursement for providers, slower
adoption by practitioners, and technical
limitations made it an intimidating and/
or slow-moving feat before coronavirus.
Upon implementing or updating the
scope of their telehealth care, hospitals
and medical practices faced challenges
from everything from language barriers
to entering Medicare and Medicaid
telemedicine codes, adoption and comprehension
of the technology, and some
patients’ reluctance due to their unfamiliarity
with the technology. But most
if not all of these bumps in the road were
promptly addressed. For example, translation
technology was utilized to combat
language barriers, and the government
has lifted regulatory restrictions.
Ultimately, telehealth has provided
healthcare experts with advanced capabilities
to care for their patients, the benefits
of which are invaluable, experts say.
Telehealth adds 24/7 convenience, says
Dr. Ken Long, vice president of administration,
Mount Sinai South Nassau. Physicians
have access to electronic medical
records to remotely attend to hospital
as well as family practices, even if their
physicians have coronavirus. Doctors
could easily fill prescriptions following
a telehealth visit rather than have their
patients run to the ER, for example. And
while there’s been a great shortage in
personal protective equipment (PPE), telehealth
“allows us to conserve masks and
gowns,” he says. “We want the practices
to stay functional; we don’t want people
to get sick.”
Medical professionals at Northwell
Health, Long Island’s largest healthcare
system, agree.
“With the onset of COVID-19, Northwell
Health has leveraged existing capabilities
and expanded their capabilities and outreach
tremendously,” says Iris Berman,
R.N., vice president of Telehealth Services
at Northwell Health.
Telehealth has been extremely valuable
particularly for the vulnerable and at-risk
population, she notes, explaining that a
patient with multiple comorbidities,
simultaneous chronic diseases that require
a number of different specialists
to manage their care, would typically
require special transportation and visits
on any given day to a professional team
including a pulmonologist, nutritionist,
and physical therapist.
“What we are able to do with telehealth is
have all of those specialties at one visit at
one time while that patient stays home,”
Berman adds.
They are able to coordinate, collaborate,
and treat effectively.
“People will see the convenience of it and
the efficiency and want to continue this
well after the COVID emergency is over,”
Berman says. “Getting good data together,
looking at those avoided unnecessary
and high-cost transfers to the emergency
room — conserving more expensive resources
for those that really need it — will
be something interesting to look at.”
“People will see the convenience of it and the
efficiency and want to continue this well after the
COVID emergency is over,” says Iris Berman.
PRESS HEALTH
continued from page 29
Dear Neighbor,
Our nurses, physicians and staff have been touched
and gratified by the outpouring of support from the
Huntington community. We thank you for this and for
your ongoing expressions of generosity and solidarity.
We are here for you, and we are in this together. Here
are some updates.
We are pleased to tell you that new COVID-19 cases
at Huntington Hospital have been declining over the
past 2 weeks. At the same time, we remain at a level
of high alert, with more than 50 patients requiring
Critical Care services for their coronavirus infection and
its complications. Our clinical staff is continuing to
devote exceptional energy, skill and care to this battle.
At the same time, our Emergency Department visits
have declined dramatically, and we are pleased to
report that most patients coming do NOT have COVID
infection. The takeaway: do NOT avoid emergency
care if you need it. We are hearing of cases where
stroke symptoms and other serious health issues have
been neglected because people are afraid to come to a
hospital. Please understand that we have configured
our ED to assure immediate isolation of suspected cases
and a safe pathway for all of our patients.
We also want you to know that your hospital is
an active partner in the national effort to learn as
much as we can as fast as we can about SARS CoV2,
the virus that causes COVID-19. A number of our
physicians, working under the auspices of Northwell’s
Feinstein Institute for research, are investigators
in important multi-center studies. Such research
studies will help define the best approaches to
treating this condition and supporting patients in
a way to maximize survival
and quality of life.
Finally, we ask you to
continue to adhere to State
and national guidance
about social distancing,
hand hygiene and mask
use. Together, we will beat
COVID-19.
Most sincerely,
Nick Fitterman, MD, MACP
Executive Director
Huntington Hospital
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
