ICYMI: “Telehealth’s Vital Role in Epilepsy Care Must Be Protected”
Op-ed in RealClear Health emphasizes the importance of telehealth for people with epilepsy and the need to protect access to virtual care before end of year expiration.
In case you missed it, Jacqueline French, M.D., chief medical and innovation officer at the Epilepsy Foundation, discusses the critical value of access to telehealth for the epilepsy community, in a recent op-ed published in RealClear Health. French underscores the need for urgent congressional action to protect access to virtual care through the pandemic-era Medicare flexibilities that are set to expire in less than 20 days at the end of this year.
French highlights how epilepsy patients benefit from telehealth with increased access to specialists and mitigating challenges to traditional, in-person care, “Telehealth is of particular importance for people with epilepsy because there are many communities that do not have access to local epileptologists or epilepsy centers. This difficulty in access to expert care is compounded by the fact that many people with active epilepsy cannot drive due to their condition, and may often require a family member to accompany them to visits for safety reasons.”
She goes on to discuss how telehealth has revolutionized the standard of care for people with epilepsy, easing access to care for their chronic disease. “Telehealth allows people with epilepsy to easily consult specialists and schedule appointments, reduce or eradicate travel time to specialty epilepsy care, ease prescription refills and share critical health data, such as videos of seizures, with their healthcare providers,” French writes.
In her piece, French references two recent studies supporting that telehealth care is effective in epilepsy management, finding it comparable to in-person visits and upholding positive outcomes.
She ends the piece with a pressing call upon Congress, “Without additional action from Congress, people with epilepsy and millions of other Americans with unique healthcare needs could be without the access to necessary care. For people with epilepsy, this can result in breakthrough seizures and related complications including injury, disability or even death. Lawmakers must enact policy to protect these valuable telehealth protections without unnecessary restrictions that would undermine the full promise of virtual care to people with epilepsy.”
Read the full op-ed in RealClear Health HERE and learn more about how Congress can act to permanently protect telehealth access HERE.
ABOUT TELEHEALTH ACCESS FOR AMERICA
Telehealth Access for America (TAFA) is a public education campaign supported by leaders in health care committed to better care, expanded patient choice, and protecting access to critical telehealth services.
Learn more and take action today at www.telehealthaccessforamerica.org.
ABOUT EPILEPSY FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
The Epilepsy Foundation of America is the leading national voluntary health organization that speaks on behalf of the nearly 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy and seizures. The mission of the Foundation is to improve the lives of people affected by epilepsy through education, advocacy, research, and connection. Learn more at www.epilepsy.com.