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VOA – OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in mid-March, visits to doctors\u2019 offices dropped precipitously as people stayed home to protect themselves from the virus. But the stay-at-home order has spurred people to seek medical help in another way \u2013 talking to a doctor over the phone, email or video, according to a new study. Now, 30% of all outpatient visits are televisits, up from less than 1% in early March, according to researchers at Harvard University and Phreesia<\/a>, a health care technology company.<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s a dramatic change,\u201d said Ateev Mehrotra, a professor at Harvard Medical School and one of the study\u2019s authors. \u201cThose are the sorts of changes we expect over a decade, not over weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Waiting for the telemedicine revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n Communicating electronically with a doctor isn\u2019t new. With some specialties such as dermatology and mental health, phone or video appointments are common.<\/p>\n In many U.S. rural communities, which have seen a decline in the number of hospitals and doctors, telemedicine has been a lifeline.<\/p>\n But when it comes to primary care, doctors, patients and regulators alike have mostly stuck with how medical care has been delivered forever: in-person meetings.<\/p>\n Some doctors say a lot can be accomplished over video.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking at a rash, looking at a spot on an arm, that’s perfect for telehealth, because we have the video capabilities,\u201d said Dr. Edward Lee, an internal medicine physician and chief information officer at the Permanente Federation, a consortium of eight medical groups that deliver care to Kaiser Permanente\u2019s 12.2 million patients and members.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I needed to do an injection, if I need to do a minor procedure, I’m not going to be able to do that over video or a phone,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, in those situations where there are urgent needs, we would bring the patient in to see us.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehrotra, the Harvard professor, says doctors and patients are embracing telemedicine now, out of necessity, but are also realizing its limits.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven what I\u2019ve heard from clinicians who’ve tried it, I have to think this will accelerate growth in the post-pandemic period,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I’m also hearing from a lot of doctors, \u2018It’s cool, but I like in-person visits. I can’t do the tests, I can’t do the full exam.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Paying the same for video and in-person visits<\/strong><\/p>\n Policy decisions are also driving the adoption of telemedicine. Until the pandemic, government agencies and insurers paid less than half their normal amount for telemedicine visits. Now they have increased the pay for a televisit so it is on par with an in-person one, according to Kaiser Health News<\/a>.<\/p>\n