Uropartners, Suite 312, 1475 E Belvidere Rd, Grayslakle, IL 60030, USA.
Kaiser Permanente Urology, 4405 Vandever Ave, San Diego, CA 92120, USA; Urology, Permanente Federation.
Urol Clin North Am. 2021 May;48(2):215-222. doi: 10.1016/j.ucl.2021.01.006. Epub 2021 Mar 12.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health emergency (PHE) have propelled telemedicine several years into the future. With the rapid adoption of this technology came socioeconomic inequities as minority communities disproportionately have yet to adopt telemedicine. Telemedicine offers solutions to patient access issues that have plagued urology, helping address physician shortages in rural areas and expanding the reach of urologists. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have adopted changes to expand coverage for telemedicine services. The expectation is that telemedicine will continue to be a mainstay in the health care system with gradual expansion in utilization.
新冠疫情的爆发和随后的公共卫生紧急事件(PHE)将远程医疗技术推进了数年。随着这项技术的迅速采用,社会经济不平等问题也随之出现,少数民族社区尚未普及远程医疗。远程医疗为泌尿科一直存在的患者就诊问题提供了解决方案,有助于解决农村地区医生短缺的问题,并扩大泌尿科医生的服务范围。医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)已经对远程医疗服务的覆盖范围进行了调整,以扩大覆盖范围。预计远程医疗将继续成为医疗保健系统的主要组成部分,其利用率将逐步扩大。