• In a patient survey, 42 percent of Americans reported using telehealth services since the pandemic first began.
• For one woman undergoing therapy for a stroke, telehealth kept her on track.
• Around half of Americans say that if they were to use telehealth services post COVID-19, being able to see or speak with a healthcare professional of their choice would be most important.

In July 2019, 73-year-old Sherry Richards had a severe stroke caused by infusion therapy for dermatomyositis, an autoimmune condition that causes skin changes and muscle weakness.

She immediately underwent a combination of physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“Paralysis to the right side caused spasticity in my arm and hand, so the therapy was crucial in helping me continue to recover and strengthen movement,” Richards told Healthline.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, all in-person and in-home therapy came to a halt. Rather than fall behind on her care plan, Richards relied on telehealth to continue modified therapy at home.

Her family stepped in and worked with her so that she wouldn’t lose ground in her recovery.

“Even missing a week could mean muscle atrophy and weakness, so we knew how critical it was to keep up with her therapy as best as we could,” her daughter Kim Donald, told Healthline.

However, they couldn’t have done it without guidance from Richards’ healthcare providers.

Using telehealth via Updox, the family was able to keep in contact with her team of physicians to ensure she was practicing her therapies correctly, taking medications as prescribed, and communicating symptoms with her doctors.

“Having telehealth options was such a reassurance for us because we were able to confirm through her doctors that we were doing everything we could to support her. Since we were dealing with a major health recovery, the ability to check in and verify/validate what we’re doing was like having a shoulder to lean on,” Donald said.

Dr. Joshua Willey, vascular neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, said telehealth has been a solution for him and his patients during the pandemic.

“[Telehealth] was very helpful in continuing to follow patients for their stroke risk factors and post-stroke complications. Telehealth also allowed our institution to see new stroke patients with non-disabling deficits who chose to not go to the ER within a rapid access format to complete all of their stroke-related testing such as MRIs,” Willey told Healthline.

The main benefit of telehealth, he adds, is that it allows people who live in rural areas to connect with their doctors without having to travel to seek care from a sub-specialist.

“The main disadvantage was that some aspects of the neurological examination cannot be done well in a remote manner, and there is a loss of the direct in-person visit associated therapeutic relationship,” Willey said.

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