Podcast #3: Seniors in the World of Virtual Health

Here is Cortico's third podcast from our own Ashley and Kelly with special guest Surpreet, exploring the intersecting worlds of telehealth and senior citizens.

You can access the podcast audio here.

Podcast Transcript

Kelly 0:05
Okay. So hi everyone, my name is Kelly and I'm from Cortico. Today I'm here with Ashley and our special guest Surpreet. Today's podcast is going to explore the world of telehealth and seniors. Some people may think that these two are opposing words, so let's discuss why there is such a large gap between the older population and telemedicine. And now here's a warm welcome to Surpreet! Surpreet has been managing a geriatric practice for over five years, working with seniors on the front lines, and has seen first-hand how difficult it is for older adults in this tech-driven world.

Ashley 0:46
So Surpreet, how has COVID impacted your geriatric clinic?

Surpreet 0:51
I would definitely say that in the beginning of COVID, a lot of our patients were frustrated, and we as health care providers were frustrated too. It was completely new to us. A lot of our patients didn't know how to reach their doctors, and they needed prescriptions, and you know, they were vulnerable; they didn't know how to get access to care. Being seniors, their not quite tech-savvy with tele-med, so they didn't know how to use computers and stuff. So it was definitely frustrating on both ends.

Ashley 1:23
So, do you find that it was a more challenging experience for seniors when your clinic switched to virtual health?

Surpreet 1:32
Definitely, because they weren't really aware of what to expect. We've never been through a pandemic, and we didn't quite know how to prepare them as well for the switch.

Ashley 1:46
I find that there is a lot of challenging factors that we have to put into place when it comes down to senior patients. Do you feel that we're forgetting about the seniors when it comes to virtual health?

Surpreet 2:02
I think we do, because we assume... for example, our age group, or even the physicians' age group, knows how to use computers, iPads, laptops... that's what they're used to. Whereas our seniors, not everyone has a laptop, or even a computer, or even a cell phone, right? They're used to maybe even just home phones. So for them even having access to what everything telehealth can offer, that might not be something that's suitable for them because they don't have it at home.

Ashley 2:32
This might be kind of shocking I was reading an article not too long ago and I had no idea... but did you know that 13 million seniors face telehealth unreadiness? That's so scary because it's their health. And there's this digital divide when it comes down to senior patients and virtual health

Surpreet 2:59
Yeah, that's a very crazy number, I did not know that.

Ashley 3:03
So Surpreet, I totally agree with you when you mentioned that you know a lot of seniors aren't tech-savvy and that can be really scary and sad at the same time what are some tools that we can use to help seniors feel more comfortable using virtual health. Because I understand a lot of them don't trust seeing practitioners online. A lot of them you know may not have the correct lighting or devices to use virtual health. What are some tools that we can use to make seniors feel more comfortable?

Surpreet 3:46
Looking back at it, I'm having like an idea right now. What we could have done... We had all these spare exam rooms as doctors were working from home. They're empty. Well, what we could have done is just get seniors inside those rooms and set up a computer there. There's good lighting there, they have access to us as employees to help them with any technical difficulties, and that would have been able to prepare them in the future, right?

Ashley 4:13
I 100% agree with you. That is that such a good feature to have in a clinic because a lot of doctors are working from home and a lot of doctors are still paying a lease, monthly, to have their clinic running. But a lot of them are not working in the clinic. So having that option available for patients who aren't so tech-savvy, I think that's brilliant.

Surpreet 4:45
Yeah, it would definitely would have helped because we've had those extra rooms that, even if patients, say, brought their own laptops in... perfect! We would have been able to show them, 'this is zoom', or 'this is tele-med', 'this is what you need to click on'... 'This is how you access the video-call and everything', and then your next appointment, they don't need to come to you.

Ashley 5:04
From your experience of working in a geriatric clinic for five years, do you think in this day and age of a pandemic and whatnot... do you think that, now and even for the future that we should implement some sort of educational platform for senior patients? And showing them how safe it is to see your physician virtually?

Surpreet 5:33
Yeah, I definitely think it's something that we should look further into... Again, like you mentioned before, seniors don't feel safe, they don't know if it's the right doctor, all those kinds of things. So, if we were to start educating them before, say a pandemic hit, they'd already be comfortable using that system. If they've been using it right, they don't have to wait for a pandemic to hit... So simple things like prescription renewals; why can't that be done over tele-med, right? It saves the seniors time, they're not exposed to certain viruses that are in walk-in clinics, right? Everyone's sitting so close together. And I know right now we're trying to get back to the norm. But I think, definitely in the future, we should have a system that educates [seniors], whether it's tele-med or anything else, anything new, you should definitely agree to that.

Ashley 6:25
Yeah, I 100% agree. I just feel like... I mean, I lost my grandma during the pandemic, and I feel like if things like an educational platform for virtual health was implemented years ago, we would have been preventing things like this because... 13 million seniors that face telehealth unreadiness, I think that's just not right, and something should be done about it.

Surpreet 6:55
Yeah, that number is pretty unacceptable. That's our senior population; they're the most vulnerable population especially during COVID the pandemic, they were the ones that were hit first, and they should have been the ones that received the most care but unfortunately, the way our system was set up, they weren't prepared for that. And we, as healthcare providers, weren't prepared to help them either. So I mean... that number, 13 million seniors, is very shocking, and it's unacceptable, and we should really find ways to prevent that in the future.

Ashley 7:28
I totally agree with you Surpreet, and I feel like, you know, teaching a senior opposed to telling them, "Hey, this is how things are done nowadays, and it's up to you to keep up with the times..." and I don't feel like that's fair because seniors could be a little bit slower adopting to technology. And I find that if you educate them, as opposed to telling them that, "Hey, these are the changes this is how you're going to see your doctor..." it can get really scary and it can, kind of, not make me want to use virtual health. Have you incorporated any educational platform in your in your practice for your senior patients, so they can get comfortable using virtual health?

Surpreet 8:17
You know what? That's a really good point, Ashley, what you said educating them. We didn't at first, and we did exactly what you said, telling them, "Oh, log in to this, do this, this, this. No, come on this page, and then click this..." and to someone who's not used to going on a laptop that's really hard to do. For us, at our age, that's super easy, but for someone who doesn't even own a cell phone, and only has like a home telephone, that's super hard. So, a thing that we should have done, and I think would have been really, really helpful to our seniors, is... We had all these empty exam rooms, and our physicians were working from home, so we should have set up certain rooms for seniors to do their virtual appointments in. And us, being the MOAs, and the managers of the clinic, we would have been able to be there to assist them. They could bring their laptop in, or they could use our computer, and we could say, "Okay, log-in in front of me and I'll show you how to do it." And when they do what we teach them, they get familiar with the system; how to use the video call, everything like that. So I think that actually, had we have implemented that in the beginning, we would have definitely caused our clinic to run a lot smoother. It would have caused our seniors to not be so anxious during appointments, because that was a really big problem that we had, and it would have just been very smooth on both ends... and I think that would have allowed them to be more confident and have more trust in tele-med.

Ashley 9:46
So, what it sounds like... It's like you're trying to incorporate a mentor-mentee workshop for your seniors, showing them once or twice and then they can go home and comfortably see their doctors virtually? I think that's brilliant. Surpreet, what do you think about being prepared at home with medical supplies, so the seniors are actually getting the most out of their visit?

Surpreet 10:20
Yeah, that was definitely an issue that we had in the beginning as well. We had our physicians call for a patient; say it was blood pressure, they needed their prescription renewed. And the patient didn't know what blood pressure they had at the moment, or they took it in the morning, right? We're not prepared for that. So what that results in, is safety issues. Is the doctor giving the incorrect dosage now? And definitely simple things like blood pressure, weight machines, all those kind of things, had the patient known, "Okay, this is a checklist I need to look over for my physician's call," we'd definitely get the most out of tele-med that way.

Ashley 10:59
Oh, 100%. So, what you just said about having those medical supplies... that the majority of people have at home, but incorporating that into your actual virtual health, which is going to provide the best patient care virtually. My last question to you, Surpreet, is, before we let you go, do you think virtual health is here to stay? And what do you think the future outcome for virtual health and seniors is going to be during the times to come?

Surpreet 11:32
Yeah, I definitely think that virtual health has been a great asset to our health care system. It provides efficient care, I think, for a lot of our patients, and just simple things like it decreases wait time. You don't have patients waiting in our waiting room for two hours. Sick patients could be at home, and that keeps us as employees safe, it keeps our physicians safe, and it keeps other other patients safe. Also, things like the white coat syndrome, where patients do their blood pressure at home, and the moment they come to the clinic, their blood pressure rises, and then again, they're getting incorrect medications are scared. With tele-med, we don't have that problem. So I think, depending on the patient, virtual care is amazing. And I think, going back to what we were discussing, if we had proper education for all of our patients, especially our seniors, we could use tele-med for many, many things, and it could replace that interaction with our doctor that we don't need.

Ashley 12:38
Awesome, Surpreet! It was really great having you on our podcast. Kelly, did you have any points to add?

Kelly 12:45
Yeah, and just the last few things. I wanted to obviously thank you both for such an amazing discussion. And I think my main takeaway from this discussion is that both parties need to put in the work. ti seems like, without that education, seniors are left behind. However, if once we approach telemedicine, telehealth to seniors in a fair way, they can put in the work. Practitioners can put in the work, and I feel like that's when telehealth and telemedicine can flourish. So, thank you so much for your insights Surpreet. I hope everyone has enjoyed this podcast as much as I did, and stay tuned for our next podcast. Thanks everyone, Bye!