January 19, 2018.
The government has decided to add teleconsultation (medical examination by videoconference) and tele-expertise (a request for advice between practitioners) to the list of procedures reimbursed by health insurance. For what reasons ?
Fight against medical deserts
Very soon, telemedicine will be added to the list of procedures reimbursed by Social Security at the national level. If the modalities of this implementation are currently under discussion between Medicare and the doctors’ unions, we can wonder about the reasons which pushed the executive to take such a decision. This measure would have many advantages.
First of all, it would make it possible to fight effectively against medical deserts. Corn for this, it will, of course, be necessary for the Internet coverage to be good, which is not the case in all rural areas. After years of local experimentation, the government has found this practice to be useful in many cases. But then mentalities will have to evolve on this issue.
Reduce the number of visits to the hospital
According to the Court of Auditors, in 2015, less than 260,000 telemedicine acts were performed. It’s not much. It will therefore be necessary to reassure patients and get them used to using this new consultation method. This new device has other advantages: it should allow Insurance to save money because it will certainly reduce the burden of hospital expenses.
” The financial stakes are estimated by some studies at 2.6 billion euros per year for avoidable hospitalizations and medical transport, or even up to 9 billion for the cost of non-compliance with treatment. “, According to a report from the Court of Auditors. The hospital is very expensive for health insurance and patients often go there when they cannot afford to do otherwise. It remains to be seen whether a doctor behind a screen will be so reassuring for patients …
Marine Rondot
Also read: Everything you need to know about telemedicine
