GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Jason Peoples has been working in the telemedicine space for more than a decade.
"I can share with you that we connected with an 85-year-old patient just two days ago. Walked her through the whole process and she thought it was the best thing ever," says Peoples.
Situations like that are now becoming much more common due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is going to be the mainstream delivery of care and people are starting to recognize that and adapt to that as we see a tremendous amount of virtual explosion right now," says Peoples.
He says there are things patients should be aware of. It's true that medicine can be prescribed on video calls with your doctor but not all types of medicine.
"There are some restrictions in place due to the opioid epidemic and prescribing controlled substances. That's something under review and some states have different restrictions, others don't," says Peoples.
People's also recommends that you might not want to use your computer or laptop for a virtual health call, instead use your phone because it's the device with you at all times.
Because of the crisis certain rules on which providers offer telehealth has been lifted so check with your provider on their status.
"We've seen these regulations relax significantly to be able to provide telehealth services to people where ever they are regardless of location and that has been a huge advantage and leap from where we were even just a couple weeks ago," says Peoples.
MORE COVID-19 NEWS:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.