RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic created an explosion in the use of telehealth. However, telehealth consists of much more than a video discussion between doctor and patient. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, allergists have demonstrated a high level of synchronous telemedicine adoption with existing patients but have not taken full advantage of other virtual care modalities that have the potential to facilitate the efficient delivery of allergy care to the broader population. This is partially due to a lack of awareness about the various remote care services and how to implement and bill for them appropriately. This rostrum describes the spectrum of telehealth services, reviews existing literature on the use of telehealth in allergy, and provides suggestions about how allergists and immunologists can optimize the use of telehealth to optimize patient access and outcomes as well as receive appropriate compensation for specialty clinical services provided by themselves and their staff.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Hipersensibilidade , Telemedicina , Atenção à Saúde , Humanos , Hipersensibilidade/epidemiologia , Hipersensibilidade/terapia , PandemiasRESUMO
Food allergy sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has demonstrated efficacy in inducing desensitization with lower rates of systemic adverse effects than oral immunotherapy (OIT). Long-term SLIT has been shown to induce sustained unresponsiveness, and there is evidence that high-dose SLIT protocols can achieve tolerance that approximates that of OIT. However, the cost of allergenic extract may make long-term, high-dose SLIT prohibitive. Consequently, some allergists have used food allergy SLIT as a temporary bridge to OIT. Other allergists have developed SLIT protocols by using suspensions prepared from whole foods instead of commercially available extracts. Because long-term maintenance dosing regimens for food allergy SLIT have not been standardized, studies are needed to determine the minimum effective doses and duration of food allergy SLIT for various foods. Clarity on these questions may open the door to establishing food allergy SLIT as a viable treatment option.
RESUMO
Telemedicine adoption has rapidly accelerated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine provides increased access to medical care and helps to mitigate risk by conserving personal protective equipment and providing for social/physical distancing to continue to treat patients with a variety of allergic and immunologic conditions. During this time, many allergy and immunology clinicians have needed to adopt telemedicine expeditiously in their practices while studying the complex and variable issues surrounding its regulation and reimbursement. Some concerns have been temporarily alleviated since March 2020 to aid with patient care in the setting of COVID-19. Other changes are ongoing at the time of this publication. Members of the Telemedicine Work Group in the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) completed a telemedicine literature review of online and Pub Med resources through May 9, 2020, to detail Pre-COVID-19 telemedicine knowledge and outline up-to-date telemedicine material. This work group report was developed to provide guidance to allergy/immunology clinicians as they navigate the swiftly evolving telemedicine landscape.
Assuntos
Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , Telemedicina/organização & administração , Alergia e Imunologia/organização & administração , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Codificação Clínica , Segurança Computacional , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/organização & administração , Humanos , Hipersensibilidade/terapia , Controle de Infecções/organização & administração , Reembolso de Seguro de Saúde , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2 , Sociedades Médicas , Telemedicina/economiaRESUMO
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Telemedicine is a rapidly growing healthcare sector that can improve access to care for underserved populations and offer flexibility and convenience to patients and clinicians alike. However, uncertainty about insurance coverage and reimbursement policies for telemedicine has historically been a major barrier to adoption, especially among physicians in private practice (the majority of practicing allergists). RECENT FINDINGS: The COVID-19 public health emergency has highlighted the importance of telehealth as a safe and effective healthcare delivery model, with governments and payers rapidly expanding coverage and payment in an effort to ensure public access to healthcare in the midst of an infectious pandemic. This comprehensive review of updated telemedicine coverage and payment policies will include a tabular guide on how to appropriately bill and optimize reimbursement for telemedicine services. This review of current trends in telemedicine coverage, billing, and reimbursement will outline the historical and current state of telemedicine payment policies in the USA, with special focus on recent policy changes implemented in light of COVID-19. The authors will also explore the potential future landscape of telehealth coverage and reimbursement beyond the resolution of the public health emergency.