Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to extend care when you and the doctor aren’t in the same place at the same time. You might be surprised by the range of care you can get through telehealth. Your doctor will decide whether telehealth is appropriate for your health needs.
As a good faith provision of telehealth during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, recent federal policy changes allow doctors to use popular video chat applications with patients, including Apple FaceTime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangouts video, Zoom, or Skype. Ask your doctor what they support.
If you have a phone or a device with internet access, you already have everything you need to do telehealth. You may be able to:
- Talk to your doctor live over the phone or video chat.
- Send and receive messages from your doctor using chat messaging, email, secure messaging, and secure file exchange.
- Use remote patient monitoring so your doctor can check on you at home. For example, you might use a device to gather ECG or other vitals to help your doctor stay informed about your progress.
If you need care — especially during COVID-19 — it’s worth checking to see what your telehealth options are.