Event Recap: Leading LA physicians thrilled with telehealth adoption in their communities

Breaking the telehealth divide: What I’ve learned from my community

Dr. Ilan Shapiro of AltaMed Health Services and Dr. Juan Espinoza of Children's Hospital Los Angeles shared their experiences with telehealth adoption in their primarily Latino and Spanish speaking communities. They are very excited about the democratization of access to affordable, high quality healthcare.

COVID-19 forced a digital transformation that had been talked about for years and “it made us reconsider how we are delivering healthcare,” they agreed.

Barriers to care are now lower. Patients no longer have to take time off work, find a babysitter, or commute to the doctor’s office, enabling them to have shorter, more focused, more effective, and more frequent conversations with doctors. Dr. Espinoza shared “I’ve never seen more patients in my life. Before COVID, a 20-30% no show rate was common, but in the last few weeks I’ve had none. I’m delivering more care to people who need it.”

Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Espinoza also discussed how telehealth has paradoxically led to more intimate and authentic interactions with patients. They’re able to speak to patients inside their homes, allowing the doctors to better understand their living environments and family members, while allowing the patients to feel more comfortable and open up. Dr Shapiro has found “The communication is actually better - it’s more focused and more fun.”

In looking ahead, both doctors agree there’s no way we can go back. Dr. Shapiro urges us to stop thinking binary - it’s not a matter of all telehealth or all in person. “We need to strike a balance, and we need to move forward with this.”

Here are their calls to action:
1. Talk with your representatives about telehealth bills. Make noise - advocacy has to be heard to be effective.
2. In the state of California, Medicaid and Medicare are very progressive because they have parity and reimburse the same for in-person and telehealth. Make sure that public programs don’t go backwards.
3. Support access to internet and technology: keep programs like California Lifeline alive; support Everyone On in bringing internet to communities that don’t have it.
4. Insure appropriate protections for workers and students in their telehealth appointments. Employers and schools provide protection and space for telehealth appointments.
5. Private payers have been lagging. Make sure digital health-related codes like remote patient monitoring codes and chronic care management codes are adopted.

With Ilan Shapiro (@Dr_Shaps), MD, FAAP, FACHE. Medical Director of Health Education & Wellness, AltaMed Health Services. And Juan Espinoza (@JuanEspinozaMD), MD, FAAP. Pediatrician, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and Medical Director, CHLA Innovation Studio