Neil H. Baum, MD, on Telemedicine in Oncology

In an interview with CancerNetwork®, Neil H. Baum, MD, professor of clinical urology at Tulane Medical School, discussed the transition to telemedicine and how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have changed the practice of medicine moving forward.

“So, you have a choice,” Baum explained. “You can put on your hazmat suit and allow patients who are undiagnosed with [COVID-19] to enter your practice, or you can treat them at a distance in the comfort of your own home on a computer with safety for the physician and his or her staff.” 

The technology to put telemedicine into use has been available for approximately 10 years according to Baum, however it wasn’t until the start of the pandemic that it was fully ushered in as a new way of practicing medicine.

“In the past, we conducted telemedicine for patients who were at a great length or a great distance from the oncology practice,” said Baum. “Today, as a result of this relaxing of requirements, it is a telemedicine available to oncologists to treat patients in their home.” 

Baum indicated that this sort of platform is something that can transcend the pandemic, however. With this knowledge, Baum laid out a set of best practices for physicians to follow in regard to telemedicine.

This segment comes from the CancerNetwork^® portion of the MJH Life Sciences National Broadcast, airing daily on all MJH Life Sciences channels.