Video: Knock on Wood| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Lupus Nephritis
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

Telehealth Is Helping the Underserved

Linda Childers  |  Issue: April 2018  |  April 26, 2018

“There are a lot of patients who are uninsured or underinsured and as people age, their healthcare needs typically increase,” Dr. Green says.

Using Telemedicine to Evaluate Rheumatology Patients

Gerson Bernhard, MD, FACP, MACR, a clinical professor of Medicine at the University of California

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

San Francisco (UCSF), is semi-retired and has volunteered with MAVEN for the last year and a half. He was one of three rheuma­tologists who worked on the Ampla Health pilot project.

“Each of us would spend an afternoon seeing patients through telehealth consults,” says Dr. Bernhard. “A nurse, physician’s assistant or physician would sit with patients in an exam room at the community health center, while my rheumatology colleagues or I would talk with the patient and assess their rheumatic condition via camera.”

Dr. Bernhard

Dr. Bernhard

Dr. Bernhard says patient diagnoses in the pilot project ran the gamut and included arthritis, fibromyalgia, psoriatic arthritis and gout.

“For patients who require further evaluation, I arrange to have them visit our rheumatology clinic in San Francisco,” Dr. Bernhard says. “Once their condition is stable, they can continue to receive follow-up care at their local community health clinic.”

In addition to doing telehealth consults with patients, Dr. Bernhard says MAVEN volunteers also work to educate primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who serve as the first line of evaluation for patients.

“I think the education component is one of the most important things we can share with our colleagues in community health centers,” Dr. Bernhard says. “It assists them in deciding which patients need to receive more specialty management care.”

Dr. Upchurch

Dr. Upchurch

Katherine Upchurch, MD, a rheumatologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., was one of MAVEN’s first volunteers on the East Coast. Currently on medical leave from her practice, she volunteers with MAVEN five hours each month.

“I’ve done one-on-one specialty telehealth consults with patients and their nurse practitioners in community health clinics,” says Dr. Upchurch. “Access is definitely a barrier for many of the patients. It’s hard to see a specialist when they live in towns outside big cities, have mobility issues, no transportation and often don’t speak English fluently.”

Dr. Upchurch says these obstacles can result in insufficient management of a patient’s rheumatic disease, whereas telehealth has been shown to improve patient outcomes.

Research published in the April 2016 issue of BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders compared patients receiving intensive treatment for rheumatoid arthritis via telemonitoring with patients receiving conventional medical care. The results showed the telemedicine group demonstrated better outcomes in several areas including a higher percentage achieving remission at the one-year mark, a shorter median time to remission (20 weeks as opposed to 36), greater improvements in functional impairment, radiological damage progression and comprehensive disease control.4

Page: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page
Share: 

Filed under:Information TechnologyTechnology Tagged with:MAVENMedical Alumni Volunteer Expert Networktelehealthtelemedicine

Related Articles

    Dr. Bernhard Helps Doctors in Underserved Areas Via the MAVEN Project

    June 15, 2020

    In 2018, Gerson Bernhard, MD, FACP, MACR, received a call from a primary care physician at a rural clinic in Florida who was treating patients with varying degrees of arthritis. One patient’s case was more complex than the others. Dr. Bernhard guided the doctor through the patient’s history, reviewed lab results, referred related studies, expanded…

    Telehealth Brings Opportunities to Enhance Patient Care

    December 8, 2022

    During an ACR webinar in August, presenters discussed multiple aspects of telehealth in rheumatology, especially related to rheumatology fellowship training. They agreed that although telehealth represents one potential avenue to improve patient access to treatment for rheumatic disease, we must keep identifying the best ways to employ telehealth to enhance care. Impact of Pandemic Telemedicine…

    What’s Next for Telehealth after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency?

    June 10, 2023

    Do you remember where you were when the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) was declared on Jan. 31, 2020? While it may seem like yesterday, you would be forgiven for not recalling your exact location over three years ago during what felt like an incredible whirlwind for the healthcare industry. One possible location you may…

    Telerheumatology: What’s Next?

    December 17, 2020

    In an ACR Convergence session, two rheumatologists discussed how COVID-19 changed the use of telemedicine, how payers reacted and which changes are likely permanent and which are likely to be temporary.

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences