Contents tagged with elderly patients

  • Telehealth visits with elderly patients

    Tags: telehealth, elderly patients, Tasaduq Hussain Mir

    By Tasaduq Hussain Mir, MD, FAAFP

    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a paradigm shift in how we see patients. Many physicians have now switched to telemedicine. Prior to the pandemic, only about 11% of physician visits were done via telehealth and now almost 46% of visits are completed via telehealth, according to the American Medical Association.

    Although telehealth visits have many benefits and are a preferred mode for a lot of patients to see their physician, they have their limitations, too. Many patients prefer telehealth because they do not have to spend hours in a doctor’s office, contend with heavy traffic, or struggle to find a parking spot to park their car. Having said that, many of the patients we schedule for telehealth visits are elderly, and problems like hearing loss, poor vision, and dementia are common in this age group.

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