Increasing role of telehealth visits in community HemOnc?

[AmiSansNom]

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Has there been an increasing usage of telehealth visits in the community oncology setting? I see some of the community docs doing one full day or a half day of only telehealth visits, on top of one full day or half day of admin day. Which effectively translates to as few as 3 days of having to go to the office. Is this becoming an increasingly available option for community docs? I hardly do any telehealth (maybe 4 or 5 visits a month, for people who have difficulty getting to the clinic frequently etc.) but I am wondering if I should request for this opportunity and do one full day of telehealth. Is this feasible? Are any of you guys doing it, and how is it going for you?

 

[gutonc]

Has there been an increasing usage of telehealth visits in the community oncology setting? I see some of the community docs doing one full day or a half day of only telehealth visits, on top of one full day or half day of admin day. Which effectively translates to as few as 3 days of having to go to the office. Is this becoming an increasingly available option for community docs? I hardly do any telehealth (maybe 4 or 5 visits a month, for people who have difficulty getting to the clinic frequently etc.) but I am wondering if I should request for this opportunity and do one full day of telehealth. Is this feasible? Are any of you guys doing it, and how is it going for you?

I do a day of telemed, but it's because I wanted to only do 3d a week and they wanted 4. So I said I'd do a day in my PJs. I don't do telemed on other days. I don't really like it, but it beats working a full extra day. I usually have a pretty light schedule (4-8 patients) on those days. so I get a lot of other stuff done.

No reason you couldn't ask for it, but unless you're going to be practicing in a rural area, or have patients who have to travel a long way to get to you, I'm not sure why you'd want to do it or if they'd support it.

 

[HemeOncHopeful19]

I do a day of telemed, but it's because I wanted to only do 3d a week and they wanted 4. So I said I'd do a day in my PJs. I don't do telemed on other days. I don't really like it, but it beats working a full extra day. I usually have a pretty light schedule (4-8 patients) on those days. so I get a lot of other stuff done.

No reason you couldn't ask for it, but unless you're going to be practicing in a rural area, or have patients who have to travel a long way to get to you, I'm not sure why you'd want to do it or if they'd support it.

Do you use the same E/M billing codes or are they different? I am intrigued

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I do a day of telemed, but it's because I wanted to only do 3d a week and they wanted 4. So I said I'd do a day in my PJs. I don't do telemed on other days. I don't really like it, but it beats working a full extra day. I usually have a pretty light schedule (4-8 patients) on those days. so I get a lot of other stuff done.

No reason you couldn't ask for it, but unless you're going to be practicing in a rural area, or have patients who have to travel a long way to get to you, I'm not sure why you'd want to do it or if they'd support it.

Speaking from experience, rural areas are generally the worst places to try to do video telehealth visits as the internet coverage is spotty and the speeds are slow. It’s one reason why I flat out refuse to do any telehealth at this point. I don’t like a 20 minute visit taking an hour because we have to restart the video call 5 times, and the patient has to physically drive themselves to an area where they can actually get cell signal.

 

[gutonc]

Do you use the same E/M billing codes or are they different? I am intrigued

Yes. CMS codes are the same for telemed that includes audio and video as they are in person. Phone visits pay a lot less. I don't do them.

 

[gutonc]

Speaking from experience, rural areas are generally the worst places to try to do video telehealth visits as the internet coverage is spotty and the speeds are slow. It’s one reason why I flat out refuse to do any telehealth at this point. I don’t like a 20 minute visit taking an hour because we have to restart the video call 5 times, and the patient has to physically drive themselves to an area where they can actually get cell signal.

Fortunately, most of my patients who have crappy connectivity know it and don't try.

TBH, my telemed day is for my convenience, not my patient's. Once I move FT where my current job is (next summer/fall), I'll probably bag it and just do a half day in clinic.