As Chief Medical Officer at Heartbeat Health, A Virtual-FIRST CARDILOGY PRACTICE, Dr. Jana Goldberg is at the interaction of telehealth and cardiology care.
She has several concerns when it comes to telemedicine and cardiac care. She’s worried about access, beCause the supply-demand mismatch in Cardiology is Critical. She wants to improve outcomes, become She’s focused on Resource Optimization, beCause Cardiologicals Can Stratify Patients By Need With Telemedicine. And She’s Interested in the Role of Hybrid Models, Virtual Care Will Never Replace in-Person Procedus or Acute Interventions.
We spoke with goldberg so she could elabrate on that concerns, and discus her years of experience and Deep Expertise in the field.
Q. 46% of us counters Lack a Local Cardiological and Urban Wait Times Exced 30 Days. How can Telecardiology Help Overcome These Access Challenges?
A. That’s right. Almost half of the US counters. These tend to be areas that are rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Patients Living in that ARAS ALREADY Have a High Risk of Heart Disease Due to Underling Risk Factors and, Astoundingly, A One-Year Shorter Life Extension The problem extends into urban settings where some Appointment Times Exced 30 Days Depending on the City and Continue to go up.
Further, A Quarter of Cardiologist Intend to leave Over the coming years. With a population Getting Sicker, we are facing a critical supply/Demand Mismatch.
Given both the current and projection outlook, telecardiology will serve an essential function in the coming decades. Here, I Define Telecardiology more Broadly Than just connecting Cardiologicals and Patients via Tele-Visits. Rather, it is the larger implementation of remote-friendly diagnosis and treatment for patients with cardiovascular conditions.
Traditional models requiring a stepwise approach to work up and management typical start with a referral to a face-to-face cardiologist. Given Capacity Constraints Despite Need, The Specialty Model will have to evolve to support more innovative pathways that one can introduce diagnostics into non-traditional settings-the home, the house Care – as well as support for the output of those results by connecting patients with specialists outstide of their existing geography.
Q. How can Telecardiology Reduce Hospitalizations and Mortality Rates?
A. There have been nuen nuen numerous clinical trials challenging the impact of telecardiology on various endpoints of interest, including include blood pressure and cholesterol contemplation, hosalyament, mortality, mortality, Mortality of Quality of Life, Among others.
Thought some of the trials have had had mixed data, they have also also employed different models to effectate impact. Overall, the literature supports that it can play a significant impact in improving outcomes.
A recent Meta -nalysis Synthesizing Evidence From 29 Randomized Trials and Involving Nearly 14,000 adults with heart failure Illustrate Leveraaging telecardiology Not only Reduces ReadMation, It Improves Health Literacy and Quality of Life.
Thought there several reasons as to why we we we we We’re Seeing these outsomes, include closer monitoring and patient oversight, one of the Major drivers is likely getting patients Proven Reduction in Hospitalization and Risk of Death.
This is particularly true for the heart failure population that drives our highest costs. For every three patients with a reduced heart function we can get on approves therapy, we keep one out of the hospital. Compared to other things we can do in medicine, that number is incredibly powerful.
Telecardiology Simply Connects the Dots to get patients on the right treatment, at the right speed, at the right time.
Q. What can telecardiology do to reduce unnecessary visits while ensuring high-quality care?
A. I would break down the impact into a couple different area: routine like ambulatory care visits and high acuity like Er visits.
Given the breadth of disease, we needed better ways to manage the influx of patients into the specialty outpatient, or ambulatory care setting. The right way to think about using telecardiology in this setting is using innovative care pathways to meet the Level of Patient Need.
In this setting, we need to lean into a primary care-friendly model but MainTain Adequate Support from Specialists. For many many questions, an e-consult pathway can provide primery care physicians with what is needed to manage a patient a patient.
In this case, you see diversion of special outpatint slot utilization Away from Lower Acuity Patients and avoidance of unnecessary e/m visits. Further, we can spare face-to-face visits for medication titration, also improve the speed to which we get patients on the right regimens quickly (and improving outcomes).
With Regard to High-Acuity Care, It is Estimated Up to two-Thirds of Er visits are avoidable, or an estimated $ 32 billion in healthcare costs annual. Many of these issues may be solved on an outpatient basis; However, the current primary care model needs to evolve in order to offload these costs.
When we Leverage telecardiology to support primary care physiies in a collaborative care model, we elevate their capability beyond what both infrastructure and capacity allies.
In summary, telecardiology allows for the carve out of innovative pathways that can avoid our traditional brick-sand-mortar workflows, alleviating on-the-the-the-the-the-village teams and unnecessory sports.
Q. The hybrid model in telemedicine seems to be the wave of the future. What Happens when you blend telecardiology and brick-sand-mortar care?
A. I see this hybridization occur in three key area: Primary Care, Home Care and Other Specialty Practices. As we spek, these models are rolling out sequentially.
For Several Years, in primary care practices-particularly at-Risk Organizations or ACOS-Telecardilyogy became a natural adjunct to their broader cardarovascular strategy. The objective has been clear: control healthcare costs while deliverying high-Quality care. In a fragmented healthcare landscape that varies dramatically by market, telecardiology have helped bridge geography geography geography and unified specialty strategies – An organic and Necessary Evolthan.
Next, healthcare is increasing shifting into the home. Meeting patients where they are essential, essentially for that who face barriers to traditional in-Person care. With Clinicians Delivering Diagnoses and Management in-Home, this Approach Supports Bot Routine and High-Risk Care. As this trend Accelerates, Telemedicine will play a critical role in supporting on-the-grained teams.
Finally, specialists are progressively turning to virtual partners to enhance their care delivery. This shift is Haappening in Three Key Ways: Managing Post-Hospitalization Patients Amid Capacity Constraints, Streamlining and Specializing New Patient Intake, and Strengthening Referral Pathwaays Thrustrotted Demonostrate Quality and reliability.
These interconnected pathways signal a broader transformation in care delivery. I’m excited to see them evolve trust, ultimately, they are negamentsary – and most important, they are what’s best for patients.
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Email him: bsiwicki@himss.org
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