Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Telemedicine’s impact on lifespan and cancer eradication

Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD
Tech
March 2, 2024
Share
Tweet
Share

Forty years ago when I first started in medicine, there were no CT scans or MRIs. In the next forty years, I foresee cancer as an illness of the past, and life expectancy will be over one hundred years old.

Scientific advancements will push medicine ahead, improving quality of life in increments, slowly taking two steps forward and one step back. The pandemic caused us to take one step back, but from this, we learned lessons that will move us two steps closer to that future.

Telemedicine patient visits were a step forward, especially for those with minimal access to health care. With the pandemic, this technology moved to the forefront, assuring those susceptible to disease could avoid long lines and contagious clinics to receive medical information and advice safely at home.

State and federal laws were relaxed during the pandemic to allow telemedicine meetings. Some included nationwide discussions I attended, where exhausted doctors in New York advised those in California trying to save infected COVID-19 patients. This proved to be an asset to physicians and patients.

Now that the pandemic has been declared over, laws have returned to normal, with one, in particular, forcing us one step backward: doctors cannot meet with patients online through telemedicine visits unless they are licensed in the state where the patient resides.

This is not a problem for most people because they visit local physicians. But what if you have a specialist doctor who provides advanced medical care that might not be available locally? There are Centers of Excellence at Harvard, Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson, Stanford, UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Los Angeles, and others where clinical trials provide research data. We derive evidence-based information from these centers used to direct future medical care, moving us forward.

It is not uncommon for some of these patients to be weakened by their illness and unable to travel, while others might not afford travel expenses. Telemedicine visits are an asset.

Complicating this problem are smaller northeast states with adjacent borders or larger cities lying on the edge of two states, forcing doctors to have costly licenses in all surrounding states to provide telemedicine visits.

Additionally, should you go on vacation or be out of state on a business trip, you can only legally consult with your physician via telemedicine if your doctor has a license in that state.

The laws threaten physicians with the loss of a license and even imprisonment if their computers cross state lines to provide medical care.

Dr. Shannon MacDonald is a radiation oncologist at Harvard School of Medicine and provides care at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is courageously suing the state of New Jersey for the right to provide telemedicine care to her patients. Here is a link from her legal team referring to her recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Interestingly, laws have been carved out allowing NFL team doctors to practice in states where they are not licensed, and the same goes for VA doctors who travel from state to state caring for our veterans.

Therefore, state legislators or the federal government must find a way to rectify this problem by allowing doctors to practice interstate telemedicine.

ADVERTISEMENT

Let’s ensure that in forty years, cancer will be an illness of the past, and life expectancy will be over one hundred years old.

Gene Uzawa Dorio is an internal medicine physician who blogs at SCV Physician Report.

Prev

Medical aid in dying legislation for end-of-life care [PODCAST]

March 1, 2024 Kevin 0
…
Next

When this doctor gets a zero star rating

March 2, 2024 Kevin 6
…

Tagged as: Health IT

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Medical aid in dying legislation for end-of-life care [PODCAST]
Next Post >
When this doctor gets a zero star rating

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD

  • How doctors took back control from hospital executives

    Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD
  • Pope Francis dies at 88. What his care reveals about America’s failing hospitals.

    Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD
  • When saving lives leads to losing your own

    Gene Uzawa Dorio, MD

Related Posts

  • Physician burnout: the impact of social media on mental health and the urgent need for change

    Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Amy Bissada, DO & Jen Barna, MD
  • Health misinformation’s deadly impact

    Neha Gour
  • Social media’s impact on mental health [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • Caught in the middle: How health insurance companies influence cancer drug selection

    Paul Pender, MD
  • How value-based care can address health inequities

    Michael Poku, MD, MBA
  • “System-ness”: the key to successful health care transformation

    Robert Pearl, MD

More in Tech

  • The future of clinical care: AI’s role in easing physician workload

    Michael Wakeman
  • Why Grok 4 could be the next leap for HIPAA-compliant clinical AI

    Harvey Castro, MD, MBA
  • AI is already replacing doctors—just not how you think

    Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA
  • A mind to guide the machine: Why physicians must help shape artificial intelligence in medicine

    Shanice Spence-Miller, MD
  • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

    Vineet Vishwanath
  • The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards

    Max Rollwage, PhD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...