Lancaster Physician Spring 2020 - 31

SPRING 2020

or smartphone and connect with a doctor
through an appointment," explained Letner.
"You could be on vacation in Florida and still
access WellSpan Online Urgent Care."
A virtual visit costs $49, and care is provided
by fully licensed doctors and advanced practice
clinicians who can consult, diagnose, treat, and
prescribe. Contact is made by phone, with video
connections available.
In addition to its online urgent care, WellSpan
has a network of walk-in care options available,
including urgent care, orthopedic urgent care,
and walk-in hours at some primary care offices.
Letner has used WellSpan's online urgent care
service for his children on several occasions
and said his experiences have been successful.
With a device that you can purchase at Best
Buy or a medical supply store, he was able to
photograph the inner ear of one of his children
for the doctor to use as a basis for diagnosis.
"It's a matter of convenience and cost,"
Letner said.
While convenient and cost-effective, however,
a virtual visit cannot replace a patient-physician
relationship.
"If one of my kids had a serious condition,
I'd be looking to establish a more personal
relationship with a doctor," Letner said. "The
role of a physician will always be based on that
relationship with the patient."
The rapid rise of technology in health care has
changed the expectations of many patients,
according to Letner, and that can seem threatening to some providers. He, however, considers it
opportune that patients can be active partners in
their care with the use of wearable technology,
patient portals, and other tools.
Medicine has been changing since it was first
practiced, Letner said, and there has always been
the need for physicians to adapt to the times.
"My 14-year-old daughter wants to be a doctor,
and I tell her that I believe a doctor of her generation will look much different than a doctor
of today," he said. "It's all about adapting and
keeping up with change. We've seen a ton of

changes, and we're going to see a ton more."
UPMC Pinnacle
UPMC Pinnacle is committed to the use of
advancing technology that improves patient
care, according to Dr. Christian Caicedo,
president of the health care organization's
Dauphin Region.
Telemedicine services, which employ stateof-the-art equipment to connect patients and
providers electronically, have increased dramatically within UPMC Pinnacle in recent years.
And, Caicedo predicts the use of telemedicine
will be significantly accelerated during and after
the current pandemic crisis.
Telemedicine currently is practiced within
a wide range of services, including the heart
failure program, labor and delivery, infectious
disease, neurology, post-acute care network,
stroke care, rheumatology, wound care, tobacco
cessation, and others.
A real benefit of telemedicine is that it provides
access to patients who may have trouble locating
or getting to a doctor. That's especially true in
the case of specialists.
"Patients can have access to leading-edge
specialists that they would have had to drive
hours to see," he said. "We have a shortage
of physicians, particularly in rural areas. But,
even in highly populated urban areas, certain
specialists can be difficult to find."
Telemedicine also enables providers to collaborate with difficult-to-find specialists, such as
psychiatrists or dermatologists, and provides
local doctors access to experts in the event of
a medical emergency where quick action is
required, such as a stroke.
UPMC Pinnacle patients can take advantage
of $49 video visits through MyPinnacleHealth
patient portal. Any adult who has an established
relationship with a UPMC Pinnacle physician
can request a video visit for a follow-up appointment. Video visits also are used for patients
experiencing symptoms that could indicate
flu or another illness.
While telemedicine is, and will continue to be,

LANCASTER

PHYSICIAN

important, Caicedo does not see it replacing
the personal interaction between a patient and
a health care provider.
"That relationship is critical, and I don't think
it will go away," he said. "Tele-health augments
health care, but it is not intended to replace
the personal relationship between a patient
and their provider."
Caicedo admitted he sometimes worries that
the increasing use of technology and remote
care could threaten the relationships that make
being a physician so rewarding. Moreover, he
said the changing expectations of patients who
are looking for instant results and on-demand
access to doctors could result in physician burnout, a problem that UPMC Pinnacle addresses
and takes seriously.
However, said Caicedo, who is a physician,
health care providers must be their own
advocates in addressing challenges as the
field changes.
"It is up to us doctors to speak out, both for
ourselves and for future doctors," he said.
"Having the comfort and trust to delegate
certain tasks to others will allow physicians to
best spend their time on value-added activities
for the patient."
Generally, Caicedo said, he expects that while
primary care doctors and patients will continue
with in-person appointments, technological
advances will make it easier for them to stay
connected between visits. Through portals,
patients can renew prescriptions, ask questions,
and seek advice, remaining in timely contact
with their doctors.
"And I think that is a good thing," he said.
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
A young, family medicine physician who is
the physician leader on Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health's Center for Health Care
Innovation, Matthew Torres is excited about
the future of health care.
"I think there's a lot of promise in new technologies and in our relationships with our
patients," Torres said.Continued
"I feel like
I'm 32
on
on page
the cusp of the old ways and new ways of

Lancaster Physician Spring 2020

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