Many Americans think of allergies and asthma as chronic, yet only mildly harmful conditions. And, for some of the 7% of Americans that have asthma and 50 million Americans who experience seasonal allergies, that is true. But despite the advancements in prevention and treatment, asthma kills 10 Americans every day, and there are two anaphylaxis (serious allergic reaction) deaths per day in the U.S.
The impact of these chronic conditions doesn’t stop with the patients themselves – they have far reaching societal and economic impacts. People with asthma miss 14.2 million workdays a year, costing the economy some $56 billion in healthcare expenses and lost productivity. Allergies have an additional cost in excess of $18 billion a year. Any way you cut it, allergies and asthma are serious health issues for those who suffer from them and our economy.
The only way to reduce the impact of these chronic conditions on people and society is to ensure people have access to the healthcare and guidance they need when they need it.
Doctor visits by video can help solve this problem in more ways than you may think. Remote, at-will connection to a physician greatly expands access to care for more people, allowing patients to see a doctor from their home, office, or car. This is especially helpful to those in less populated areas. Plus, video visits can deliver care without the lengthy wait times faced at doctors’ offices, cutting the time between symptoms and care for patients. And there’s no drive to the doctor’s office.
Instead of having to suffer through a day of distracting symptoms or miss work or other commitments to visit a doctor, people can get on-demand care which gets them back to full health, back to work, and back to full productivity faster. In this way, video visits can reduce the economic and societal impact of these chronic conditions.
Doctor On Demand recently teamed up with the
For example, the Allergy Home Inspection enables patients to give physicians a video tour of their home or daily environment, giving doctors a direct window into patients’ lives to identify triggers, and up until now, hidden causes of allergies. Services like the Allergy Home Inspections will not only help patients get the care they need when sick, but proactively address the causes of their suffering to improve quality of life, reduce doctor and hospital visits, and cut down on healthcare costs for patients and payers.
Through this partnership, Doctor On Demand and the Allergy & Asthma Network can help tackle the personal health, societal, and economic impacts of allergies and asthma. All of this is built off of the basic principle of access to timely, high-quality healthcare. That’s why remote care through video visits delivers so much promise in improving the quality and value of our healthcare system.
