From House Calls to Virtual Visits

COVID-19 Pandemic Led to Patients, Health Care Providers Turning to Telemedicine

The use of telemedicine soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Texas Tech Physicians primary and specialty clinics across West Texas have completed more than 160,000 telehealth visits since the start of the pandemic. To compare, after launching telemedicine initiatives in 1989, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) completed 50,000 telemedicine consultations between 1990 and April 2020.

“Telemedicine is direct clinical care by a health care provider to a patient at a distance through virtual or electronic means,” Ariel Santos, M.D., MPH, acute care surgeon for Texas Tech Physicians and director of the TTUHSC Telemedicine Program, said. “Telemedicine, telehealth and digital health are all used interchangeably. However, telehealth is a much broader umbrella which includes telemedicine and other modalities of communications, such as wearable devices and consumer and other health education.”