Have you heard the news? In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, our Texas Endovascular Specialists are now happy to offer telemedicine appointments. What does this mean for you? When you call one of our Houston area offices for an appointment slot, you can specify your preference for a telemedicine appointment. But instead of coming in to see us, you’ll receive a time to see our vein specialists in our virtual office, hosted by the secure Doxy platform.  During your appointment, you’ll be able to show and discuss your problem. After that, you’ll receive a treatment protocol and any appropriate or necessary prescriptions!

Now, we can’t get rid of your varicose veins during a telemedicine appointment. But we can help you alleviate any associated pain or discomfort, while preventing your condition from progressing further and causing more serious complications. And that’s not all we can treat remotely. So, today, and for the few days, we’ll highlight conditions we can treat with telemedicine appointments. First up? Patient requiring follow-up care for venous leg ulcers.

Why Venous Leg Ulcers Respond Well to Remote

Telemedicine is a fairly new option here in the U.S. But remote visits are a well-established practice in Canada, which has allowed physicians there to study patient outcomes. And here’s some good news: many conditions, especially ulcers, do just as well with remote follow up care as they do with in person visits.

This is why we believe you can receive quality ulcer care from a distance: when you have an ulcer (an non-healing sore on your leg, typically the result of underlying vein problems) traveling may be difficult. But if you can receive remote follow-up care via telemedicine, travel is no longer an obstacle to your recovery. Which means you’ll stick to your scheduled visits and stay on track with our team of vein specialists. And, by sticking to a strict schedule of care, we can also prevent future complications by spotting problems when they first develop.

And there’s this: for some people, coming into a major metro area can be challenging. But with the rise of Telemedicine, we can now extend our high-quality vein care to patients living almost anywhere.  In our books, that’s a very important development. Especially since, given the current global health scare, many insurance companies will cover the cost of your telemedicine visit (check with your individual provider for details before booking your visit.) And now here’s what researchers discovered about ulcers and telemedicine

Scientific Findings on Remote Ulcer Care

In 2014, researchers in Norway compared two groups of patient outcomes for foot ulcers groups. Twenty patients received follow-up care via telemedicine; 120 came for in-person follow ups.

Now, get ready for the exciting findings: Patients in both groups showed similar healing times for their ulcers. And, in both groups, nearly identical numbers of patients were completely healed at the 12-week mark. In other words, if you need to receive remote follow up care for an ulcer, your quality of care won’t suffer in any way. So, go ahead and feel confident booking a telemedicine appointment for your ulcer care, or for other non-procedural vein health concerns.

Sources: BMC Health Service Research