Telemedicine Companies Struggle To Keep Up With Ever-Increasing Demand

The Wall Street Journal: Telemedicine, Once A Hard Sell, Can’t Keep Up With Demand
The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the once-niche telemedicine industry into the mainstream, testing its ability to keep up with soaring demand and forcing innovation on the fly. Before the outbreak, telemedicine struggled to take hold, in part because of government regulation and a lack of interest from patients and big companies. Now, companies like Teladoc Health Inc. TDOC -5.23% and Doctor on Demand Inc. are racing to add doctors and bandwidth, while big tech firms like Microsoft Corp. add services. (Olson, 4/1)

ABC News: Medicare And Medicaid Patients Get Temporary Access To Telemedicine Amid Coronavirus Crisis, But Challenges Remain 
On Monday, President Donald Trump’s administration took the unprecedented step to temporarily waive rules for the nation’s largest insurer — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) — giving some healthcare providers the ability to have phone-only visits with their patients as the coronavirus crisis rages on. CMS covers at least 140 million Americans through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Federal Exchanges – typically covering a constituency of people with disabilities, the elderly, and those with low incomes, many of whom may be unable to access the advanced technologies required for telehealth — seen as an important emerging tool in maintaining people’s health amid the fight against the virus. (Lantry, 4/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: How To Use Telemedicine While Sheltering In Place 
As the Bay Area shelters in place, health care providers are urging everyone to stay home and away from hospitals except for emergencies. Telemedicine is a way to meet patients’ medical needs while keeping them distant — care conducted virtually by messaging apps, phone or video chat. Here’s what you should know about telehealth in the Bay Area. (Moench, 3/31)

Meanwhile, in other technology news —

Stat: Stanford Launches An Accelerated Test Of AI To Help With Covid-19 Care
In the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford clinicians and researchers are exploring whether artificial intelligence could help manage a potential surge of Covid-19 patients — and identify patients who will need intensive care before their condition rapidly deteriorates. The challenge is not to build the algorithm — the Stanford team simply picked an off-the-shelf tool already on the market — but rather to determine how to carefully integrate it into already-frenzied clinical operations. (Robbins, 4/1)