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Telemedicine: An Effective Tool for Addressing Physician Shortage

With a predicted shortage of 90,000 American doctors in less than five years, one solution […]

bigstock-Carrying-Medical-Bag-9780617-300x200With a predicted shortage of 90,000 American doctors in less than five years, one solution could make a positive impact: telemedicine. An ideal platform for a range of patient needs, telemedicine is a platform for wound checks to treating minor acute illnesses.

The predictions are dire. By 2020, the United States could be short as many as 90,000 doctors, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“There’s going to be a shortage of physicians as we move forward,” said Dr. James B. Peake, senior vice president of CGI Federal and retired U.S. Lieutenant General. “It’s not just primary care. Even in some of the specialties.”

The reasons? The aging population and, to a lesser extent, the Affordable Care Act mandate requiring insurance for all. “We have a growing and aging population,” Peake said. “Part of that aging population, frankly, is the physician population, as well.”

Proposed solutions range from policy changes to government initiatives. But Peake, who is also president of the American Telemedicine Association, points to telemedicine as a potential fix for the coming doctor shortage.

As many as 60 percent of patients who visit their primary care physician’s office could have been served using telecommunications technology, Peake said. Telemedicine is an ideal platform for treating minor acute illnesses, he said, and has seen success in fields including dermatology and telepsychiatry. A surgeon by training, Peake added that even the majority of wound checks could be handled in a five-minute telemedicine visit.

“It’s not one size fits all,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting it right.”

Using technology as part of their approach to patient care would free up doctors to spend more time with patients who actually need office visits, Peake said. When telemedicine fills in the gaps between patient needs and physician time and ability, he said, it’s allowing healthcare to be redistributed and creating a more efficient system.

“It has the ability to redistribute the workload and to try to push folks to the top of their game in terms of operating at the top of their scope of practice,” he said. “This isn’t just about the doctor. It’s about optimizing the whole team.”

While there’s no question in Peake’s mind that telemedicine will lessen the impact of the doctor shortage, he said it will also meet the needs of a more “enlightened consumer” who wants increased convenience and higher quality healthcare.

“It will have an impact on the doctor shortage,” Peake said. “It’s certainly not the be-all and end-all for that. It’s one of the levers in a complicated ecosystem.”

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