{"id":208925,"date":"2019-04-08T04:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=208925"},"modified":"2019-04-08T04:00:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T08:00:45","slug":"new-wave-of-telemedicine-uses-mobile-phone-video-to-link-patients-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/04\/08\/new-wave-of-telemedicine-uses-mobile-phone-video-to-link-patients-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"New wave of telemedicine uses mobile phone video to link patients, doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brown said that Ontario’s health system doesn’t have a billing code to pay doctors for their telemedicine services, but OTN is working to overcome that barrier. (Shutterstock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stick out your smartphone and say AHHHHH.<\/p>\n

Although it’s early days for a new wave of telemedicine, some Canadians can now avoid trips to the doctor’s office by using their mobile phone’s video camera.<\/p>\n

In March, Telus Health launched a new video link between patients and select doctors in British Columbia, the only province with a billing code to pay doctors for such visits.<\/p>\n

Other companies are experimenting with similar services but Telus has hopes of becoming the main player in Canada’s burgeoning market for consumer-oriented medical technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are far ahead of any competitors in this space in Canada,\u201d Telus vice-president Juggy Sihota said in an interview from Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, the owner of the Telus and Koodo wireless networks has spent $2.5 billion to build a national medical records business.<\/p>\n

Telus Health estimates that more than 50 per cent of general practice doctors offices in Canada use the electronic medical records software at their office; more than 60 per cent of pharmacies use its pharmacy management software.<\/p>\n

It’s now adding Babylon by Telus Health, which including video visits by smartphone, to its lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a key strategic priority for our organization and a key personal priority for (Telus CEO Darren Entwistle),\u201d said Sihota, Telus’s vice-president of consumer health.<\/p>\n

Telus is the Canadian partner of London-based Babylon Health \u2014 one of many companies that have developed smartphone apps that aim to help consumers diagnose their own symptoms.<\/p>\n

What’s distinctive about the new Babylon by Telus service is its ability to connect by interactive video with doctors covered by B.C.’s health services payment system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is as though you went into a walk-in clinic and see the doctor that’s there,\u201d according to Sihota.<\/p>\n

Patients aren’t required to use a Telus wireless phone and they won’t be charged for video doctor visits.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Telus hopes to generate revenue by selling a technology platform to general practice doctors and other health professionals.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ed Brown, who is chief executive officer of the Ontario Telemedicine Network, said forms of video doctor visits have been around for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, a patient living in a small town could go into a hospital and see a specialist that’s many, many miles away without having the make the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Brown agrees that what Telus is doing \u201cis a little bit different.\u201d<\/p>\n

For one thing, it’s using widely available mobile technology that patients can use anywhere there’s a fast enough wireless service. Babylon by Telus also connects with general practitioners, rather than specialists.<\/p>\n

Brown said that Ontario’s health system doesn’t have a billing code to pay doctors for their telemedicine services, but OTN is working to overcome that barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to really make this part of mainstream health care,\u201d Brown said<\/p>\n

OTN is funding a pilot program with 277 physicians and 30,000 patients in five of Ontario’s 14 health care regions.<\/p>\n

He said that seeing a new doctor each visit \u201cis OK for some things but, for the most part, we also like people to have direct access to their own doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

OTN \u2014 a provincially funded not-for-profit organization \u2014 is working with Novari Health and Think Research on a mobile phone connection between Ontario doctors and their patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients are able to text their own doctor, and that can be escalated to a video or audio call if that’s required,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

He said only a small percentage of patients in the pilot project use the video feature, relying mostly on text messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cBabylon may have some differentiating features that may give them an edge, here and there, but I think there’s a lot of competition in this space.\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

From Sihota’s point of view, video consultations offer big advantages over traditional visits to the doctor’s office.<\/p>\n

For example, she said, patients can replay the virtual consultations with the Babylon doctor either for themselves, a trusted family member or personal doctor.<\/p>\n

And if a general practice doctor refers a patient to a specialist, the service provides notifications along each step of the process and gives the patient opportunities to ask questions along the way.<\/p>\n

Telus won’t be selling data collected by its Babylon service, and it’s taking significant precautions to protect privacy.<\/p>\n

Sihota said consumers of their private health plans have to pay for other types of services when they are added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ll have mental health professionals. We’ll have dieticians, nutritionists and other allied health professionals,\u201d Sihota predicts. \u201cBut for the family doctor service that we’re talking about today . . . there’s no charge for consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stick out your smartphone and say AHHHHH. Although it’s early days for a new wave of telemedicine, some Canadians can …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":208927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","mauthors-david-paddon","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208928,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208925\/revisions\/208928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}