Dr. Jon Hallberg: Are virtual doctor visits here to stay?

Telehealth visits have become the norm for people seeking care from their health provider during the novel coronavirus pandemic, where hospitals and care facilities have limited who can visit, if at all.

Acceptance rates for telehealth or virtual visits were uncommon before the pandemic, but now that’s changed. Dr. Jon Hallberg recounts the rapid change from in-person visits to virtual visits, earlier this year.

“Most of us went to work on that Friday in the middle of March, seeing a normal slate of patients in person,” Hallberg said. “And by Monday, our clinics had basically shut their doors and closed.”

Doctors across the country had to quickly find a new way to safely, distantly, treat their patients. Soon virtual visits were being incorporated into daily practice, according to the New Yorker, as well as important procedures such as intubating a patient.

“The fact that everything from primary care to orthopedic surgery to general surgery to O.B. can be delivered in this kind of way, I think is really surprising to a lot of us who do this every day,” he said.

Patients are also starting to embrace virtual visits, Hallberg said, by becoming active in their care programs. People are doing things like tracking their weight and taking their temperature in order to relay the information to their care team. But some things just can’t be done virtually, like imaging, immunizations or checking on vital organs. Virtual visits have their limits.

Reflecting on whether or not this is the future we want for medicine, Hallberg says without hesitation, “It is. I think it's good for both patients and practitioners.”

Click play on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.

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