Tag Archive for: telemedicine visit

What MPN Patient Type Is a Good Candidate for Telemedicine Visits?

What MPN Patient Type Is a Good Candidate for Telemedicine Visits? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patient type makes a good candidate for telemedicine visits? MPN expert Dr. Jamile Shammo shares her perspective of patient situations that work well for telemedicine and those who can benefit from in-person visits as part of ongoing care.

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Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

As more institutions start to have in-person visits instead of only telemedicine visits, you might be wondering if you should keep doing telemedicine visits or move back to seeing your physician in-person. Some people might want to continue doing telemedicine for a number of reasons, including convenience/no travel involved and  limiting your exposure to colds/infection from other patients. There are certain MPN patients that could be seen with telemedicine visits or fewer in-person visits. Listen as Dr. Jamile Shammo explains.

Dr. Jamile Shammo:

So, when I think of the patient that might benefit most from seeing the physician via televisit, for example, it would be someone who perhaps has a stable disease, someone who I may want to monitor perhaps every three to six months, someone who may have stable counts, and we’re just talking to about their symptoms and monitoring those types of things every so often. And perhaps I look at the labs, and you can discuss their symptoms and whether or not they have splenomegaly and issues like that. 

Lisa Hatfield:

As Dr. Shammo notes, if your MPN is considered stable and you typically only see your doctor every three to six months, it might be worth continuing telemedicine visits instead of going back to in-person visits. 

Dr. Jamile Shammo:

Someone who may already be on a stable dose of medication and we don’t have to do any dose adjustments and even if we have to do those adjustments, perhaps we could do labs a little more frequently, so that would be all right too.

Lisa Hatfield:

If you are on a stable dose of your medication and don’t need any modifications or just have minor adjustments, you could consider staying with telemedicine visits. 

But what patients should consider doing more in-person visits, now that COVID-19 precautions are lighter? Dr. Shammo goes on to explain THAT patient could be…

Dr. Jamile Shammo:

Someone in whom I would like to initiate in treatment, someone in whom the disease may be progressing a little too quickly, someone who I may want to do an exam and assess their spleen, I suppose you could send them to an ultrasound facility and obtain an MRI or a CT, or an ultrasound of the imaging study that is. But there’s nothing like an actual exam of the patient. You are thinking about the disease progression, so those sorts of patients in which the disease is actually changing its pace, you may want to take a look at it, the full smear look and examine the skin for certain TKI and signs and symptoms of low platelets and that sort of thing. Look in the mouth for ulcers and things of that nature. 

Lisa Hatfield:

As always, please discuss with your health care team before deciding to switch to only telemedicine visits or going back to in-person visits. They know your history and can help decide what is best for you and your care at this particular time. 


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Pros and Cons of Telemedicine From an MPN Patient Perspective

Pros and Cons of Telemedicine From an MPN Patient Perspective from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What are the positives and negatives of telemedicine for myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients? MPN patient Debbie shares her perspective about benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine visits, and blood cancer patient Lisa Hatfield shares advice for preparing for telehealth visits and for staying connected with your healthcare team.

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Transcript:

Debbie:

I think there is definitely a place for telemedicine in our care. It has enabled us to, or enable me to keep in touch with my hematologist and to understand where my blood counts currently are. What I would also say is, it’s…that there are positives and negatives. I think that the positive of it is the fact that I’ve got a regular update on what my blood counts actually are. I think the negatives of it can be, is that it is quite easy just to move the conversation quite quickly forward. It’s easier for me to just say, everything’s all okay. Thank you for updating me over the telephone, then it is perhaps if I was actually sat in front of somebody. I think that the challenges it presents is that personal touch, is that feeling of being able to have a one-to-one relationship with your consultant. I don’t think you have that over the telephone.

Lisa Hatfield:

You just heard from Debbie, who is living with an myeloproliferative neoplasm, share her positives and negatives of telemedicine but what can patients do so the positives outweigh the negatives? One suggestion is to treat a telehealth appointment the same way you would treat an in-person appointment, meaning you would write down all your questions ahead of time, make notes of the points you want to cover and keep information on your blood counts and medications handy. By looking at a telemedicine appointment with the same importance and preparedness as an in-person session, you will ensure you are making the most of the time. Another way to see the positives in telemedicine is to remember that telemedicine can be used beyond virtual visits. You can utilize telemedicine/telehealth technology to message and stay in contact with your care team and to share your records electronically with all the providers you see. Telemedicine can help us stay connected and informed of our health in this technology-heavy world!


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How MPN Patients Can Best Prepare for a Telemedicine Visit

How MPN Patients Can Best Prepare for a Telemedicine Visit from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What are some ways that myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) patients can best prepare for telemedicine visits? Lisa Hatfield shares information about telemedicine, and MPN patient Summer Golden and care partner Jeff Bushnell share their tips for telemedicine best practices.

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Transcript:

Lisa Hatfield:

After the extensive use of it during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like telemedicine will be here to stay. It’s another technological advantage that people living with MPNs can put in their toolbox. Since MPNs are classified as a rare disease, and there might be a lack of doctors knowledgeable on how to treat it near you, telemedicine has made it easier to connect with MPN specialists via online consults. Telemedicine can include video or audio only, and you should receive instructions how to set up and what to expect prior to your appointment. 

Listen as MPN patient, Jeff Bushnell and his care partner, Summer Golden, share how they prepare for telemedicine visits 

Summer Golden and Jeff Bushnell:

A top tip I think, it’s sort of logical, but is to have the questions and issues written out because it’s a limited matter of time and to specifically jot down the answers. Another tip would be to ensure that you have the appropriate stuff on whatever device you’re using to talk to the doctor on. We’ve used about three or four different apps, as it were, on our phone to communicate with different doctors, and you need to make sure that that works ahead of time.

Usually, the way they do it is they set up the appointment, they contact you ahead of time, and make sure that it’s going to work before they put the doctor online. But that’s very important that you have the technical ability to ensure that your equipment can support telemedicine. They’re making it pretty easy, but you still have to do it.

Lisa Hatfield:

Follow these two tips from Summer and Jeff as part of what YOU do to be ready for your next telemedicine visit. If you are having trouble with the technology needed for telemedicine, be sure to reach out to your doctor, nurse, or care partner for assistance. 


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MPN Patient Shares Advice for Making the Most of Telemedicine Visit

MPN Patient Shares Advice for Making the Most of Telemedicine Visit from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Myeloproliferative neoplasm patient Debbie has had the opportunity to utilize telemedicine in her care. Watch as she shares the pros and cons of telehealth methods in her blood cancer monitoring and her advice to other patients for optimizing virtual visits.

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Transcript:

Debbie:

I think there is definitely a place for telemedicine in our care. It has enabled us to, or enable me to keep in touch with my hematologist and to understand where my blood counts currently are. What I would also say is, it’s…that there are positives and negatives. I think that the positive of it is the fact that I’ve got a regular update on what my blood counts actually are. I think the negatives of it can be, is that it is quite easy just to move the conversation quite quickly forward. It’s easier for me to just say, everything’s all okay. Thank you for updating me over the telephone, then it is perhaps if I was actually sat in front of somebody.

I think that the challenges it presents is that personal touch, is that feeling of being able to have a one-to-one relationship with your consultant. I don’t think you have that over the telephone.

So, some of the tips that I would share are that you keep in regular contact with your hematologist, you keep regular information on your blood counts, but you keep in a very, very safe environment. You do keep in a safe environment, and that I think is something that’s enormously important. A tip that I would probably give is that make sure that in between your appointments, you do what you would do regularly on a face-to-face and make notes of the things that you want to talk about…because I quite often put the phone down and think, I wish I had said that when I go to the hospital, I will have my notes in front of me and I put them on the table, and I’ll cross-check them with the hematologist at the time, I tend not to do that on the telephone, and perhaps I should, so I would definitely recommend that you treat the tele appointment exactly the same as you would the hospital appointment.