Is Telemedicine Here to Stay? Alex Martin Discusses the Use of Telemedicine During the Pandemic

 In this episode, Alex Martin an African Caribbean medical student at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra /Northwell Hospital in New York discusses telemedicine and how it has been aiding the COVID-19 pandemic, based on research from his recently published co-authored article: Wound Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Improving Outcomes Through the Integration of Telemedicine.

The following is the abstract for the article by Alisha Oropallo, MD, FACS; John Lantis, MD, FACS; Alexander Martin; Ammar Al Rubaiay; Na Wang in the Journal of Wound Care, Vol. 30, No. Sup2.,  February 11, 2021.

COVID-19 is highly contagious and its rapid spread burdens the healthcare system. As the number of confirmed cases goes up, the shortage of medical resources has become a challenge. To avoid the collapse of the healthcare system during the fight with COVID-19, all healthcare workers, including wound care practitioners, should adapt to new roles and use any appropriate methods available to slow the spread of the virus. Integrating telemedicine into wound care during the outbreak helps maintain social distancing, preserve personal protective equipment and medical resources, and eliminate unnecessary exposure for both
vulnerable patients and high-risk healthcare workers.

A graduate in Neuroscience at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, Alex Martin went on to complete a master's degree in biology at NYU before attending the Zucker Hofstra School of Medicine. 

Working with Vascular Surgeon, Dr. Oropallo, director of the Comprehensive Wound Healing Center, Department of Vascular Surgery, Northwell Health, NY, Alex Martin said the article describes how the healthcare system will change in response to how COVID affects what you can see in person,  who you can see in person; and how you take care of those patients. "Because one of the things that is really important, especially for something like wound care is that you really need to see these patients and their wounds to make sure that they're being treated effectively to prevent infection, especially as many of these patients often have some kind of underlying C's condition, diabetes, hypertension, and these things can make wound healing a lot worse."

Telemedicine gives medical providers the ability to visualize and see changes in the patient without having to have them in the office when they can't be in the office.

The article discusses some of the barriers to actually implementing telemedicine technologies and how do we get around them and how to adjust them for older, less tech-savvy patients and in acute settings as COVID raged.