Telehealth is ‘essential’, but remote allergy care has limits


November 07, 2021

2 minutes to read

Source / Disclosures

Source:

Bailey SR. Innovation in Medicine: How Physicians Adapted Their Practices During the COVID Crisis. Presented at: ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting; from November 4 to 8, 2021; New Orleans (hybrid reunion).

Disclosures: Bailey does not report any relevant financial disclosure.


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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a “catalyst” for innovations in allergy care, leading to advancements in telehealth and monitoring of patients at home, according to Susan R. Bailey, MD, FACAAI, Past President of WADA.

Pulse oximeters are now widely used in patients and can be a ‘valuable’ objective measure to help them determine whether to go to hospital, Bailey said at a plenary at the annual science meeting from the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. However, she questioned their effectiveness and validity in clinical practice.

Susan R. Bailey, MD, FACAAI, says it’s “Imperative” that physicians collect data on the use and cost-effectiveness of telehealth so that it can continue to be available for widespread use after the public health emergency.
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“Of course, rapid large-scale implementation and payment of telemedicine has been essential,” Bailey said. “But there is no doubt that there are major limitations in our specialty when it comes to providing allergy care from a distance.”

These limitations include extensive physical exams, allergy skin tests, and allergen testing, all of which must be done in the doctor’s office, Bailey said.

“Home subcutaneous immunotherapy is still not the best choice, and although there is a tendency for payers to force therapies such as biologics to be administered at home, organized allergy has been. very active on our behalf to keep patient safety at the forefront and allow us to continue delivering these biologics in our offices, ”she added.

Still, many patients “really love” telehealth, and it has allowed doctors to continue providing care throughout the pandemic, Bailey said.

“My own practice went from zero to 100% telemedicine within days,” she said. “The industry itself has grown for 10 years in about 10 weeks.”

Restrictions on telehealth use have been temporarily lifted until the end of the public health emergency, which was recently extended until the end of 2023, according to Bailey.

“It is vital that we continue to have payment parity between telemedicine and in-person visits, regardless of who pays,” she said. “There has been a proliferation of telemedicine platforms, but there are always concerns about confidentiality and data integrity, as there will be in any delivery system. “

During the most recent conversation she had with the HHS secretary Xavier BecerraBailey acknowledged that there was, what she believed, “a surprising amount of reluctance to make the telemedicine arrangements and payment permanent due to concern about the potential for fraud and abuse.”

“It is imperative that we continue to study the use patterns and cost-effectiveness of telemedicine as the pandemic progresses so that we have strong data to demonstrate the value of continuing this important modality beyond formal public health emergency, ”she added.

While there have been an impressive number of innovations and technological advancements in medicine since the onset of the pandemic, a simpler advancement has been the increased use of face masks, which Bailey says have “reduced the inhalation of pollen grains and dust mite allergens, as well as mold spores and irritants.

“I also generally feel that food allergies are easier to control because of better control over diets since people don’t eat out,” she said.

Bailey added that she had been successful in convincing more of her allergy patients to wear masks while gardening, which she had recommended for years “but most of them didn’t want to.”

“Personally, I hope wearing the mask will continue to be, if not commonplace, so just not that strange and abnormal after the pandemic is over, especially during cold and flu season,” he said. she declared.

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