With the effects of the pandemic resulting in upwards of 130,000 deaths in the United States as of press time, the healthcare industry has adapted to the fact that patients are not visiting hospitals and primary care givers for regular checkups and screenings.
Technology has allowed health professionals to bring medicine to the masses at a time when people are fearful of catching COVID-19. According to the American Hospital Association, 76 percent of U.S. hospitals currently connect with patients and consulting practitioners at a distance through the use of video and other technology. Almost every state Medicaid program has some form of coverage for telehealth services, and private payers are embracing coverage for many telehealth services. Board-certified internal medicine physician and wellness expert Dr. Eddie Fatakhov isnt surprised at how quickly telemedicine is being embraced by the medical industry.
Telemedicine is a great solution for individual practitioners who are looking to be more available to patients as newer health systems are offering wider-reaching networks, he said. This expansion of providers marries supply with patient demand and effectively allows patients easier access to clinical care and even emergency and intensive services. Telemedicine is also a great reducer of cost. Hospital costs are expensive, so hospital visits are too. By eliminating the need to go to the hospital for care that can be handled remotely, costs scale down across the board.
Months before coronavirus became a household word, Northwell took the technology plunge when it launched a mobile app thats an Uber for blood draws back in November. Called LabFly, the app lets patients schedule blood draws at home or their workplace. It was rolled out in Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan and Staten Island and the Bronx as well as other surrounding New York City metro areas by the end of 2019. The app-based service enables patients a convenient and private alternative to having their blood taken at a traditional patient service center, Northwell Health officials said. To use the app, patients enter their demographic information, take a photo of their insurance card and paper prescription, then choose a day and time slot to schedule a visit from one of more than 150 Northwell Healths phlebotomists. On the day of the appointment, a patient can view the location of the lab technician similar to tracking rides on apps like Uber and Lyft. Most health insurance will cover the fee for lab testing and there is a $20 convenience fee, which includes transportation and sample collection, the health system said. Northwell Health Labs developed the app in partnership with software company MphRx and is based on its Minerva platform, an open-standards-based platform. And while lab companies such as VeniExpress offer at-home blood draws, Northwell Health officials said LabFly is the first at-home blood draw mobile app launched by a health system.
At Northwell Health Labs, our goal is to bring innovative ideas to the table, said Dr. Dwayne Breining, Northwell Health Labs executive director in a statement. This app is a new way to give our patients access to the quality experience they would receive at one of our patient service centers but in their living room or place of work. Whether its young children who are anxious about a blood draw, busy professionals or someone youre caring for, this app is a convenient way to help fulfill our patients needs,
Mobile health vans have also taken on greater importance in bringing needed services to residents. Nassau County Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan (DWoodbury) recently partnered with Advanced Cardiovascular Diagnostics to offer mobile COVID-19 antibody testing aboard their mobile testing facility, which was stationed in the parking lot of the James H. Vernon School on Tuesday, July 14. Cardiovascular screenings were offered in addition to COVID-19 testing. Lafazan emphasized the importance of a program like this with COVID-19 testing being so crucial in helping identify coronavirus cases and getting those people quick treatment and immediate isolation to prevent the virus spread.
COVID-19 has profoundly impacted all of our lives during the past few months, and it is imperative to ensure that the curve remains flattened so that Nassau County can protect its residents and continue to safely re-open, he said. Antibody tests are an important tool we can use to protect our families and loved ones, and Im pleased to work with Advanced Cardiovascular Diagnostics to bring this convenient clinic to our community.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran recently announced a renewed push for more cancer and breast cancer screenings in Nassau County via the use of mobile mammovans. With breast cancer, cervix and colon cancer screenings down between 86 to 94 percent since the pandemic lockdown began, Curran joined forces with Dr. Anthony Boutin, CEO of Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC), and local breast cancer survivor Geri Barish, executive director of Hewlett House and president of 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition, to announce a renewed push for more cancer and breast cancer screenings in Nassau County.
This is a nationwide trend and raises concerns that deadly cancers may go undetected if screening appointments arent scheduled soon, Curran said. We need to get the word out that early detection through screenings is the best way to successfully treat breast cancer. We wouldnt want someone to be diagnosed down the road with late stage cancer because they were afraid of COVID-19.
The mammovan will be traveling around the county to give residents greater access to screenings that features 3D state-of-the-art technology that allows radiologist to look though the tissue to better identify suspicious lesions, as opposed to a 2D composite flat view. Multiple images are taken at different angles to create a view through slices in a 3D image, with results in less than 24 hours.
Residents can call the Cancer Screening Program at 516-572-5701 to set up an appointment at no-cost or low-cost at the mammovan.
Originally posted here:
Bringing Medicine To The Masses - Port Washington News
- Yes, But. The Annotated Atlantic. - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Health Insurance Benefit Costs by Region - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- For an Operator, Please Press... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Pollyanna With a Pen: Maine Governor Signs 18 New Health Care Bills into Law - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- AMA Sounds the Alarm, Medicare Making Yet Another Attempt to Cut Reimbursement - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Mass Governor Asks Blue Cross to Keep Higher Employer Contribution - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Lifespan and Care New England Plan Monopoly (Again) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Dirigo Health: Con Artists, Liars, and Thieves? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- New Orleans: Health Challenges - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- August a Flurry of Activity - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Maine's Dirigo Health Savings One-Third of Original Estimate - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- “Methodolatry”: My new favorite term for one of the shortcomings of evidence-based medicine - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Suzanne Somers’ Knockout: Dangerous misinformation about cancer (part 1) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A science-based blog about GMO - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A Not-So-Split Decision - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Military Medicine in Iraq - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The effective wordsmithing of Amy Wallace - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A Science Lesson from a Homeopath and Behavioral Optometrist - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Join CFI in opposing funding mandates for quackery in health care reform - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Mainstreaming Science-Based Medicine: A Novel Approach - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Those who live in glass houses… - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- J.B. Handley of the anti-vaccine group Generation Rescue: Misogynistic attacks on journalists who champion science - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- When homeopaths attack medicine and physics - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The cancer screening kerfuffle erupts again: “Rethinking” screening for breast and prostate cancer - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- All Medicines Are Poison! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- When Loud Wins: Will Your Tax Dollars Pay For Prayer? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- It’s All in Your Head - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Skeptical O.B. joins the Science-Based Medicine crew - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Tragic Death Toll of Homebirth - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What’s the right C-section rate? Higher than you think. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Recombinant Human Antithrombin – Milking Nanny Goats for Big Bucks - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Does C-section increase the rate of neonatal death? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Man in Coma 23 Years – Is He Really Conscious? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Why Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination Isn’t Quite Universal - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Ontario naturopathic prescribing proposal is bad medicine - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Naturopaths and the anti-vaccine movement: Hijacking the law in service of pseudoscience - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The Institute for Science in Medicine enters the health care reform fray - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Neti pots – Ancient Ayurvedic Treatment Validated by Scientific Evidence - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Early Intervention for Autism - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- A temporary reprieve from legislative madness - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- A critique of the leading study of American homebirth - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Lose those holiday pounds - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Endocrine disruptors—the one true cause? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Acupuncture for Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Evidence in Medicine: Experimental Studies - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Midwives and the assault on scientific evidence - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The Mammogram Post-Mortem - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- An Influenza Recap: The End of the Second Wave - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The End of Chiropractic - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Cell phones and cancer again, or: Oh, no! My cell phone’s going to give me cancer! (revisited) - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Another wrinkle to the USPSTF mammogram guidelines kerfuffle: What about African-American women? - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Acupuncture, the P-Value Fallacy, and Honesty - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- The One True Cause of All Disease - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Communicating with the Locked-In - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Are the benefits of breastfeeding oversold? - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Measles - December 20th, 2009 [December 20th, 2009]
- Radiation from medical imaging and cancer risk - December 21st, 2009 [December 21st, 2009]
- Multiple Sclerosis and Irrational Exuberance - December 21st, 2009 [December 21st, 2009]
- Medical Fun with Christmas Carols - December 22nd, 2009 [December 22nd, 2009]
- Lithium for ALS – Angioplasty for MS - December 23rd, 2009 [December 23rd, 2009]
- “Toxins”: the new evil humours - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- 2009’s Top 5 Threats To Science In Medicine - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- Buteyko Breathing Technique – Nothing to Hyperventilate About - December 26th, 2009 [December 26th, 2009]
- The Graston Technique – Inducing Microtrauma with Instruments - December 29th, 2009 [December 29th, 2009]
- The “pharma shill” gambit - December 29th, 2009 [December 29th, 2009]
- Ginkgo biloba – No Effect - December 30th, 2009 [December 30th, 2009]
- Oppose “Big Floss”; practice alternative dentistry - January 1st, 2010 [January 1st, 2010]
- Causation and Hill’s Criteria - January 3rd, 2010 [January 3rd, 2010]
- The life cycle of translational research - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- The anti-vaccine movement strikes back against Dr. Paul Offit - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- Osteoporosis Drugs: Good Medicine or Big Pharma Scam? - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- Acupuncture for Hot Flashes - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- The case for neonatal circumcision - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- A victory for science-based medicine - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- James Ray and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) - January 10th, 2010 [January 10th, 2010]
- The Water Cure: Another Example of Self Deception and the “Lone Genius” - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Be careful what you wish for, Dr. Dossey, you just might get it - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- You. You. Who are you calling a You You? - January 15th, 2010 [January 15th, 2010]
- The War on Salt - January 16th, 2010 [January 16th, 2010]
- Is breech vaginal delivery safe? - January 16th, 2010 [January 16th, 2010]