The Future of Telehealth for Allergic Disease

Bajowala SS, Shih J, Varshney P, Elliott T. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022 Oct;10(10):2514-2523. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2022.08.022. 

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.

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