Did you know that almost 1 million people in the U.S. spend their daily lives with Multiple
Sclerosis (M.S.)? Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system where the body
triggers an immune response that causes inflammation that damages myelin—wondering what it has to do
with telemedicine in healthcare? Well, it has reasons. When a patient is diagnosed or treated for
the disease, it typically includes the administration of DMTs (disease-modifying therapies) and
monitoring patient symptoms for disease progression. Such that it involves regular communication and
visits with a neurologist, much of which can be conducted using telehealth visits.
Neurology specialty is considered to be one of the most challenging and busiest ones. Neurology
professionals can utilize telemedicine sessions to help patients adhere to a specific medication
program, conduct neurological exams, and review results from blood work or imaging tests. They can
also consult with patients on lifestyle situations and changes to help manage their neurological
condition.
In this article, let’s learn about how telemedicine in healthcare plays a prominent role in the
industry and how it remains a fantastic option for specialties like Neurology.
Telemedicine in healthcare can ensure Medication Adherence
To manage diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, you should start with adherence to DMT treatments. Those
therapy options include infusions, injections, or oral therapies.
In most cases, making sure whether that medication is taken or administered on a regular cadence is
essential for disease management. Any disruptions can cause increase in symptoms and trigger
relapses.
Neurology professionals also have a chance to schedule regular telemedicine visits to check on the
effectiveness of your patient’s therapy and address any concerns.
By using the appointment related to telemedicine in healthcare, you can review disease history,
current or new symptoms, know about changes in medical history or medications, discuss how the
patient is doing with treatment and if he/she has any recovery options.
Similar types of wellness checkups have become necessary during the pandemic. All thanks to
telemedicine in healthcare- it has helped us in the grave situation.
It became more particular because patients were more hesitant to ask for help and approach
professionals directly for treatment.
Telemedicine for Neurology Testing & Exams in Healthcare
When you’re not sure for every type of neurological test or exam, telemedicine can be used for many
aspects, including:
General appearance assessment
Vital signs (if the patient has home equipment)
Mental status
Speech
Cranial exam including eyes, face, hearing, tongue, and shoulders
Motor exam of the arms and legs
Sensory exam
Cerebellar exam
Reflexes
The crucial key point lies in preparing your patient for a visit. It’s the professional’s
responsibility to send the pre-visit instructions and information to the patient that they would
require to prepare for the neurology exam.
For instance, if a provider is doing a strength test, ensure that your patient has a weight or
canned goods to assist with the exam.
In case you like to go for a gait test, the patient must have a well-lit area for the exam so you
can easily observe.
Certain elements during the neurology exam
might require adjusting of the camera angle for proper viewing.
Also, make sure whether the patient has enough capacity or capability to handle or adjust the
camera.
Telemedicine in healthcare to review the Test Results
Patients who have Multiple Sclerosis will have to undergo regular check-ups, which is very
important.
Initial diagnosis will require extensive blood tests that are used to rule out M.S. “mimics”,
conditions that present like MS. Ongoing blood tests, or maintenance tests, are required to monitor
blood counts, lymphocytes, liver function, and to check for the presence of J.C. virus.
In addition to the blood work, these patients also require regular imaging appointments to review
and monitor disease progression.
Routine MRI scans are conducted to check for new lesions in the brain and spine.
Lesions are nothing but areas where demyelination has occurred and a scar has formed.
DMTs are used for a reason- to slow down the progression of these lesions.
Telemedicine in healthcare will have visits to review the results, which is more convenient for the
professionals and patients.
Instead of having an office visit with your patients, telemedicine in healthcare provides an easy
option to connect and interact with them from home.
Healthcare professionals can share the imaging results through the telehealth platform comparing new
and past images.
Apparently, they can also share the blood work results and review what the numbers mean.
Few might also result in a bad situation and indicate significant disease progression, which can be
better served in a patient visit.
Telemedicine for Mental Health Checks for Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Depression is one of the most commonly found side effects of Multiple Sclerosis. This disease is
unpredictable and uncertain as well. This can lead to increased anxiety, distress, anger, and
frustration for your patients.
Beyond that, the disease itself might cause depression by disrupting nerves that affect moods.
Few of them are also well known to cause depression as a side effect of the therapy. This makes
chronic depression screening a critical part of patient treatment.
Mental Health screenings are considered to be one of the most essential and popular diagnosis codes
for telemedicine in healthcare.
The most profound mechanism in telemedicine is used to conduct regular assessments as much of the
evaluation involves listening and observing your patient with Multiple Sclerosis.
The most commonly used tool for depression screening is PHQ. Other practices will go with PHQ-2 and,
if needed, will conduct the full PHQ-9 if further evaluation is required.
It became more accessible and affordable for providers to send PHQ to patients in advance of the
telemedicine session to fill up and review the results during the session. You can also prefer to
wait and verify the doubts and find answers to your questions.
In all the cases, telemedicine has proved itself as a great tool to evaluate and treat mental health
conditions for your M.S. patients.
Telemedicine in the healthcare and medical billing industry has made many impossible things
possible, especially during the pandemic. When the sessions become accessible, so will the billing.
For accurate telemedicine billing options, contact an expert RCM company for more reimbursements and
less loss.
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