1 week Ago
Arthritis is often simplified as joint pain or disease. While accurate, this description barely conveys the real-life, lasting effect on 60 million adults and hundreds of thousands of children living with a form of arthritis. The swelling, pain, stiffness and diminished range of motion can vary from mild to severe, making everyday tasks challenging.
For many people, seeking regular treatment and visiting specialists in person is painful, difficult or even impossible. This underscores the urgent need for accessible telehealth options for patients living with arthritis. During the pandemic, expanded telehealth access for millions of patients, including many with arthritis, alleviated the burdens of in-person care and significantly increased access.
Patients could attend appointments from their homes, improving patient comfort and privacy, eliminating the need for travel and reducing exposure to viruses — particularly important for patients with autoimmune arthritis. They saved money on transportation and had a direct line to experts with the click of a button. Given the significant shortage of arthritis specialists, this benefit cannot be overstated.
Unfortunately, the telehealth flexibilities granted during the pandemic, which provided waivers for Medicare beneficiaries to receive treatment virtually, are set to expire at the end of this year. This has left lawmakers clamoring for legislation safeguarding telehealth access and led to several hearings and markups on the topic. Administration officials are also working to maintain telehealth flexibilities in the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Fee Schedule.
While arthritis also affects younger patients, almost half of U.S. adults 65 or older live with arthritis.
More than 50 million Medicare beneficiaries received treatment via telehealth in 2020, and it remains a relied-on and utilized form of care. According to a study from the University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health, almost 75% of rheumatoid arthritis patients reported a positive overall impression of telehealth care. Jerry Zimmerman, a telehealth arthritis patient, shares his perspective: “The technology is very good.
(My doctor) can do as thorough an exam as if she is right there in the room with me.” The National Institutes of Health reported telehealth to be beneficial for arthritis management, calling it "beyond doubt that telehealth will be part of the solution in future rheumatology care.” With a chronic condition comes the worry of missing appointments due to pain.
Telehealth alleviates roadblocks and makes access to specialists closer than ever, including for children living with juvenile arthritis. Eight states have no pediatric rheumatologist at all, and six states have only one. Closing geographic accessibility gaps not only increases access to specialists but also decreases time that patients or caretakers are required to take off from work.
More than 80% of patients surveyed by the Arthritis Foundation reported their virtual visit was more effective because they did not have to commute to the appointment. This is an essential aspect of virtual care for arthritis patients in rural or underserved areas who may have to travel for hours to meet a provider who can attend to their needs. Telehealth can also reduce the need for clinical visits for arthritis patients by almost 70%.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for arthritis. Thankfully, telehealth can make living with a chronic health condition more manageable. The Arthritis Foundation has designated the expansion of telehealth as a priority goal for improving the health of patients living with chronic conditions, including arthritis.
Solutions such as physical therapy, care coordination over your lifetime and timely access to providers are essential aspects of arthritis care and are strengthened through telehealth. Most patients living with arthritis also have other chronic or comorbid conditions. They report regularly seeing three to 14 healthcare providers, including two or three for their arthritis alone.
Families with a child living with juvenile arthritis report seeing upward of 25 different providers. Research has found that having the ability to easily and directly connect with their providers should reduce patients’ avoidable hospital admissions or readmissions and ideally reduce the number of days they require inpatient care. There is overwhelming bipartisan support to safeguard patient access to telehealth without burdensome restrictions.
This is crucial for those living with chronic diseases. We cannot afford to let federal telehealth go over the cliff. We must ensure that patients nationwide can continue to rely confidently on virtual care to manage their arthritis.
Alisa Vidulich Casavant is the senior director of policy at the Arthritis Foundation. She wrote this for InsideSources.com .
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