Join hosts Phoebe Gutierrez and Leo Damasco on Telemedicine Talks for a September monthly wrap-up. They discuss the expiration of COVID-era telemedicine flexibilities, the impact of the government shutdown, the ongoing trial of Done's founder and medical director, compliance challenges for physicians, and upcoming trends in the telemedicine space.
This episode is sponsored by Lightstone Direct LLC. Lightstone Direct LLC connects you to institutional-quality real estate investments backed by a $12-billion AUM firm that co-invests alongside you—your partner in building lasting wealth. All investments involve risk.
Please visit LightstoneDirect.com for a full list of disclosures.
__________________________________________________
What’s next for telemedicine as regulatory shifts and legal challenges reshape the landscape?
In this Monthly Update episode of Telemedicine Talks, hosts Phoebe Gutierrez and Leo Damasco tackle critical developments in the telemedicine industry. They dive into the recent expiration of COVID-era telemedicine flexibilities for Medicare patients, which has reverted care to restrictive pre-COVID rules, requiring in-clinic visits and limiting home-based care. This shift, compounded by a government shutdown stalling potential extensions, threatens access for vulnerable patients, especially in rural areas, and could set back innovations like hospital-at-home programs.
They also analyze the high-profile fraud trial of Done, a mental health telemedicine startup, where its founder and clinical president face charges over a $100 million scheme involving over-prescription of ADHD medications like Adderall. This case serves as a cautionary tale for physicians in startups, highlighting the critical need for compliance awareness to avoid legal and professional risks. Phoebe and Leo discuss the importance of clinicians educating startups on regulations, sharing their own experiences in product development and compliance navigation.
They also explore emerging trends, including a shift from direct-to-consumer models to B2B and cash-pay options, as patients grow frustrated with traditional insurance and seek affordable, accessible care. With respiratory season driving demand, telemedicine platforms face new pressures to adapt. The hosts wrap up by previewing upcoming episodes featuring physician assistants in business and a policy expert on payer dynamics, offering listeners a roadmap for navigating this evolving field.
Three Actionable Takeaways:
About the Show
Telemedicine Talks explores the evolving world of digital health, helping physicians navigate new opportunities, regulatory challenges, and career transitions in telemedicine.
About the Hosts:
[00:00:00]
Hey, welcome back everybody to telemedicine talks. Glad to have you back. we have Phoebe Gutierrez, our awesome host, and I am the lowly co-host.
This is Leo Damas. Yeah, so it's about that time. Actually we're a little late. I think we got caught in the government shutdown too. But no, this is a time where we wanted to do a monthly wrap up, highlight things in recent news, and there's been a lot of things in the recent news.
let's get to it. how you been doing? good. I feel like we haven't had an episode, just you and I in quite some time. No, in a while, right? We've been blessed that people have agreed to come on the show. We haven't had to really pull their leg, which is awesome. And they're like, Hey, yeah, I wanna come on.
But no, it's nice to have both of us back and being able to talk aboutthings that we want to talk about and, the things that we have found important pretty recently. what have you been up to? Oh, you know, same old stuff, same old stuff.
Working on a really [00:01:00] cool longevity and wellness project that's been like, really awesome. I've been posting a little bit about it on social media, but it's called Hundred Health. they test biomarkers, but it's really cool. that has been my life. So back into the longevity and wellness space.
Yeah. Congrats back to a nine to five, right? And like really working. yeah. Back to the grind. So it's cool. it's a startup that's actually local for people listening when you talk about digital health, most of those companies are New York, sometimes Austin, San Francisco, bay Area.
Very rarely do you find a startup in Sacramento. when you find one and it's super aligned with kind of your background experience and all the stuff that you really like there's some weird, little bit of is it fate, and that's donning the a's hat too, right?
Like we're going super local today. Yeah. Yeah. It's a Friday when we're recording. So keeping it casual. It's my casual Friday look. Yeah. What about you? I feel like we haven't [00:02:00] talked in forever. Yeah, man. busy. I went into this telemedicine thing to find time and it's funny 'cause then, it just seems like I just find more things to do, and fill my time because it's just so easy nowadays.
the line between work and home is blur actually. There's no line between work and home. I step in one room and that's my office and I step in another room and that is the rest of my house. And, that little corner in the couch is an extension of my office.
it's finding that time, but it's a good blessing. I've been busy, been doing a lot of stuff and, getting to help different telemedicine companies with product. Turns out I like that too. And just helping with the flow. Yeah. Remember that product talk yeah, that resonated and I was likemaybe I should think about it and actually advertise myself as that.
And it's actually working. So really it's hey, lemme help with the product, let me help with kind of the flow and these are the [00:03:00] businesses I've been in anyways, just involved the past. But, actually getting that mindset and focusing on that. And sticking, my nose in and saying, Hey, do you mind if I have a bigger role in this?
And, surprisingly the answer's been, yeah let's do it. And they've accepted it and said, Hey, this is what you could do for us. so it's been good. It's been a great learning experience and, delving into something different again, which it turns out I like so.
yeah. That's cool. Product work is actually really fun. 'cause it's like you get to, see something come to life, which I think is cool. 'cause both of us can't build the software, right? Gosh, our last guest was, big on software, big on engineering.
And I had to warn him. I was like, Hey, man, I know nothing about engineering and software, so please dumb it down for me, like third grade level, dumb it down for me. So I was totally appreciative. But yeah there's a whole different level into that as well, and a lot of these telemedicine companies too, right?
Like it's funny, what I've found is that, [00:04:00] especially in the startup space, one of the biggest focuses, especially in the beginning, is the engineering is the product, right? Not necessarily the clinical or the medical part, right? The medical part follows everything else, which is weird to me because, I'm thinking, hey, if you're gonna build a medical startup, maybe you should start with a clinical portion first and build everything around that.
I don't know. It's, just a different mindset, but I like it. It's fun. Yeah. No, that's cool. That's really cool. I think it's also really cool that you're just putting yourself out there and they're accepting it. Because I know a lot of companies, like you don't really know how to recruit for that.
Yeah. So you're actually saving them money and time by offering. 'cause they probably need it anyways. Yeah. and it's one of the things that we've told people in the past, it's Hey, just put yourself out there. the companies sometimes don't know what they need.
And you coming in and saying, Hey, I could do this for you, or, Hey, I have experience, in this clinical field and I've built [00:05:00] something brick and mortar. I was involved in, optimizing the flow where I practice, how can I help translate that or, I could help you translate what I know into the telemedicine space.
and that's super useful 'cause. 'These startups have the engineers, they have, the finance folks, the marketing folks, but a lot of times they don't have the clinical folks. So that's where we step in, I think. Yeah. , Very cool. Very cool. I think, today is our end of month recap, but really the big topic is.
Like what is gonna happen with telemedicine? Yeah. Now that , the COVID waivers have expired and I'm pretty sure that's gonna take up the majority of the discussion. Yeah. 'cause it just happened we're 10 days in, right? 10 days in. And I, we've been talking about this almost glib, right?
Oh, we gotta be, concerned about this. We gotta be aware that this is happening. But. we're totally sure that, the smarter heads are gonna get together and they're gonna pull us outta the telemedicine [00:06:00] clef . Right. You know, the telemedicine extensions or the flexibility, like being able,
to practice or being able to see a patient that's at home. Prior to these flexibilities, you could only see a Medicare patient if they were in. Really in clinic. So you were practicing telemedicine when the patient was in clinic. Nowadays that makes zero sense whatsoever.
Why do telemedicine anyways if they're in clinic? that's one of the rules. Audio only. Telehealth visits were not allowed. sometimes if the patients lived in a rural area or an at need area, you could get away with seeing the patients at home. Or in a designated site that's not necessarily clinic.
And, we were seeing, we still are, but we are, seeing patients at their home, in different locations, and it was just a given that, this was it, this was telemedicine. But since these flexibilities weren't renewed, we're back to pre COVID era laws, like the ones we just talked about.
And It's a game changer. it just defeats the purpose of telemedicine for the most [00:07:00] part. I think, especially with Medicare folks. Yeah. I know we've had discussions at length about this 'cause I'm totally with you.
to me it does not make sense if you live in a rural area, I need you to travel to the nearest FQHC or clinic so we can verify it's you You also need to look at the purpose of these rules these are taxpayer dollars. So to them they take fraud, waste, and abuse.
Really serious. And part of the intent of these rules is you can have telemedicine, but we need to verify this as you first, because we could be treating your uncle or your cousin or anybody. And that's not a good use of taxpayer dollars. So I see both sides. But also, in today's world, there's such a disparity between the care that those, Medicare, Medicaid get versus commercial.
one has to be like, come on. they can't have virtual visits. And Programs like hospital at home. people were getting hospital grade care through telemedicine [00:08:00] at home. And it just made sense. the hospitals are bursting at the seams and now
These nursing homes and these homes that were set up for telemedicine like that, they were shipping people outta their homes and trying to get people back readmitted. and we're in respiratory season, the hospitals are gonna fill up again, and now they're filled up with these people that could potentially be taking care at home.
But no, they're taking up an actual brick and mortar bed. That could be taken up by an acutely sick person. it extends beyond that. And it definitely, I think, sets us back, honestly. a decade or so. pre COVID has been
five years ago now. Five years, yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, we've just taken this for granted. I think once the extensions came in and, us, especially myself, that jumped into telemedicine, post COVID, this is just what status quo was.
realizing that, this isn't necessarily guaranteed is shocking for me. yeah, I think that the interesting thing is I've heard so many people be like. This would never [00:09:00] expire, Or this rule is never gonna go away. Or they would never let this happen.
Like you and I know somebody who used to say that all the time, and he started here and I'm like, you don't know how it's all gonna shake out again. That's why I. And pleading. Pleading with all telemedicine companies and doctors in this space that prescribe Schedule twos,
you need to prepare And I don't think a lot of them are leaning into this whole idea of, oh,no, it's gonna get extended. Or, oh, we're gonna come to something and I don't see that happening. When does that expire? End of this year, right? Yeah. It's through the end of 2025.
So you look terrified. Well, it's, again, it's, it's one of those things that are like, this is just a given. Right? And it helps so many patients and I just realized it's Halloween soon, we got two more months left. And [00:10:00] it's funny 'cause these telemedicine extensions,
The majority of people, when we talked about it, expiring, talked to different people, they're like, at the very last minute they're gonna extend it out, and the lawmakers are gonna realize, and I think the reality is the whole idea was to wait last minute and extend it out.
But then here comes the wild card of government shutdown and we go on the whole political thing, but nothing's moving. And I don't think, we obviously didn't take that into accountyeah. It's telemedicine, extensions plus healthcare in general. It's stuck in this limbo.
Until the government, pulls their head out of their butts and decides to start working again. Yeah, that's the whole thing. So to me it's always like, you gotta have that contingency plan. And I think that it's pretty likely that come December.
the proposed regulations are not gonna change. I also think, like a lot of the people who are talking about how regulations get [00:11:00] passed, yes, we might accept 3% of the comments, I'm just saying, the smart companies are thinking about, how are we gonna get that in-person visit and how are we going to do all this within, x timeframe and really building that in.
Because this is a really perfect example at the end of the day, it is the poor patients, there's so many stories of, patient appointments getting canceled and stuff. It's just really sad . And it's the patients at need, right? It's not the patients with the resources , it's the patients that are lacking resources that are actually needing these programs or needing these types of care.
That are hit the hardest. And right now, yeah, it's just the Medicare extensions. But we all know that the big commercial payers, they follow really closely with the Medicare rules. So the longer this lasts, right now the payers are still paying out telemedicine and care regardless of where you are, following those extension rules.
For now, at least that's what I think. But how long is that gonna last [00:12:00] if the Medicare extensions don't get renewed? I don't think it's gonna last long . It's gonna revert back to pre COVID rules across the board, even with private payers, even though we know that it's a huge benefit for patients.
Yeah. I think too, like there are certain carve outs, right? So like remote patient monitoring is carved out mental health. Yeah, mental health is carved out. Yeah. So there are certain things that are excluded from this, which, it's not as earth shattering as it could be, but, it is still pretty, pretty disruptive.
No, absolutely. and the big question mark, it's funny 'cause a lot of people assumed that it was gonna happen and they planned under that assumption. Now it's just, yeah, it just throws it in the mix. it's a reality that it may not happen .
We'll see. We'll see what comes of it. Hopefully, if the government resumes again, these extensions and, healthcare, laws are passed, but wait and see. Yeah. Switching gears [00:13:00] a little bit you remember the company Dunn, right?
Yes. The A DHD company, uhhuh. Yep. So the trial of the founder and the medical director started today in San Francisco. And for those who don't know, Dunn was like a mental health startup, telemedicine company that offered very low cost monthly memberships for A DHD drugs.
And they were fine in terms of their initial, visit and determining medical necessity and all of that was perfectly fine. They. Did all the requirements. they had a questionnaire, they had a synchronous visit they prescribed, and then they just allowed people to continue to request prescriptions for Adderall and all the stimulants.
And so they got charged with fraud. And a whole flurry of things. But again, it's just more of, like. [00:14:00] How many companies are, in this space that are, making silly mistakes. they were accused of running a pill mill, which to me it seems like it was, Yeah, yeah. Looking deeper into it, it did. There was no real established indications of why they were giving patients Adderall. Basically. they were charging insurers. and saying, Hey, without significant real need.
And it's gonna be interesting to seewhat comes outta this trial? They're done. But yeah, it wouldn't be surprise, this is the first trial that targeted a telemedicine health company specifically, right? Just for that. there was another one, what was that other one?
It was also cerebral. Yeah. But they settled. so this one's interesting because these are criminal charges. For over-prescribing. So it's slightly different. 'cause they're actually going after the individuals, got it like done is still a company They're brand is shit, but they're still a company. so part of it is [00:15:00] like that, where it's these two individualsone who's, a physician. Yeah. It's, the founder and the clinical president. It's a hundred million dollar fraud scheme.
they prescribed, what did they say? 40 million Adderall, 40 million people . It's just, it doesn't make clinical sense. Yeah. yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see what the results are and what they're actually charged with and what comes of it.
it's a cautionary tale to, startups, but also to medical providers. especially, a lot of us are becoming entrepreneurial minded and want to be involved in these startups and you get involved as their medical director, as their CMO, so forth and so on, and not necessarily take a close look into the practices or step up and say, Hey, this is wrong.
And you could be staring at a hundred million dollar fraud scheme trial as well. Just something to look at. No, that's the whole thing [00:16:00] is like if you don't quite understand the rules, and I'm telling you, the one thing I can honestly say is when you work in a traditional hospital setting or clinic setting.
You are safe. Yeah. As a physician, if you're going into a new company, I can guarantee they don't understand all the complexities of the rules and regulations because it's the large companies that have the infrastructure and the budget for legal and compliance.
And I've just seen so many, real bad mistakes. So be safe out there doctors. And sometimes these companies don't know what they dunno. Or just oh, I know a lot of the doctors going into these roles, they've had to really step up and say, Hey, no, we're not doing this.
We're not moving forward. And if you want me in these roles, this is what we need to do to change things. And really, one, it's protecting you as the clinical [00:17:00] doctor and protecting your licenses, but also protecting the companies too, right? Because. They could get tagged too. So it behooves everybody and sometimes it does cost some money.
It's a little bit more expensive and the startups, they don't have muchmuch capital to play with. But, it's, I think part of our job, if we go in these roles is to make it clear that this is not, a luxury, this is a necessity yeah. there, there's this inherent saying in startup world, in health techmove fast break things.
And I would always be the voice that would be like, but this is healthcare now guys. yes. But like you, you can't, it's not the same. we're not building Candy Crush or like a little app. Like you're building things that are, impacting.
patients. And so there is this like, very interesting thing, more often than not, like, Leo, how many conversations? You've probably had several conversations with an NP or a PA and actually educated them on corporate practice of medicine. Oh. And not just [00:18:00] NPS or PAs, but just businesses that are already established.
Yeah. And have been going, and they haven't realized that their setup isn't necessarily kosher. There isn't necessarily in compliance and for different reasons. But, going down, and it's funny because, over the past few years we've taught ourselves, I've, personally taught Myselves to recognize this because of my role as a PC owner.
I just figured. I need to know this and I need to know this well, but stepping into that role, I assume the role of expert, and I'm like,how did I become the expert in this and explaining to the rest of the company? So this is a reason why, and this is how to set it up and this is what we need, and here's the, little pieces that we need to make this work.
So it's interesting. but it's also, I think, again, sticking your neck out and Learning this new role, this is gonna be part of your role. This is something that you need to know because this is what you could [00:19:00] also offer when you step into those roles.
Yeah, no, absolutely. that's exactly what I'm saying is a lot of times it's the doctor actually educating the company and guiding them and going, you need this or you need that. Or I wouldn't do that. I was on a call earlier this week with, just one of my friends had called and was, asking about a company that was asking him to do something that was, in my opinion, completely out of compliance.
And when he brought it back to them, they were oh, we had no idea. And then when they looked into it, they saw that it was, yeah. Against the rules. And so to me it's part of it is just this whole idea, It's the blind leading the blind. Yeah. You don't know what to look for.
None of us know you. everybody tries to follow the rules, but if you don't know a rule exists, how can you follow it? Yeah. No, exactly. Exactly. and being educated is key, right? Being able to understand the rules, but also ask yourself the right questions and being able to know when something smells funny.
Too, just yeah, that's a little weird. 'cause you don't necessarily need to [00:20:00] know in and out of everything, but being able to smell that something's off so you know when to initiate that kind of, search. Oh, something's a little
suspect. Maybe I should look and confirm . Yeah. Just like a little flag. You know what I mean? yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And that's the whole thing is I think. for some doctors. Like you're starting to get what those red flags are. Yeah. So you can avoid, situations like that because most likely, I don't know, I'm not gonna speak for done, but I have just seen so many doctors not realizing that they were being, pushed into doing the wrong thing.
Yeah. Accidentally. they just didn't know, I have no idea how to write this thing. I have no idea how to do this. And They're trusting because in the hospital you could be more trusting. And there's so many horror stories, right? Of doctors, actual doctors on the front lines of these practices being just hung out to dry.
Either the companies, are like, oh, it's all you where, we're not [00:21:00] touching that. Or these companies fold and the only thing left standing are the doctors to take. The majority of the blow. and we've heard multiple of these horror stories where that was it.
The doctor's licenses got nicked. Yeah. It took 'em years and years just to repair the damage that was done because it wasn't even, their active wrongdoing. It was just, they just trusted the system. And they didn't know. They didn't know to ask. Yeah. 'cause you also have to look at like, who gets in trouble here, right?
Yeah. So like most of the time if a company does something like inadvertently wrong, they get what's put like under a corrective action plan. Yeah. So it's it's this process. I think we've done a podcast about Yeah. But if they find a physician who's overprescribed something accidentally, because the way a company set it up, but there's no fraud involved.
The physician is on the hook. Yeah. They're supposed to know what to do. Yeah. You have signed a contract saying you are doing independent clinical decision making. [00:22:00] Yeah. So you know better. So to me it's that piece of it where the physicians are the ones who get in more trouble.
they have signed up. To agree, to be the prescriptive person, to have their license, to have their name, to have their NPI number. Everything that we hold dear in a business that makes us, in the eyes of the boards it's our basically clinical identity, right?
Like we can't go anywhere without our NPI number. In fact, it's dirty. We're done. when I do credentialing for companies, right? Or if I'm looking into whether we should hire a provider or not, the first thing I'm looking at is Let me see your MPDB self query. one person, she was like, yeah, like I was speeding, I was driving 85 miles per hour in a 55 mile zone, and they took my license. I'm like, how horrible to have to justify some of this stuff, who does that? no, I drive safe. Don't come after me. And just having to explain that [00:23:00] away. And it's on your record. It's on your record. It's funny too, though, it's like nowadays in credentialing I'm, running credentialing with another company, they don't allow self queries anymore.
You have to pull it you don't even know it's gonna show up in your MP DB because you don't run it anymore. It gets run for you. You're like, oh gosh, are you gonna find something? This is where it gets really tricky, because if you have IMLC and you screw up and you get dinged in one state,
You'll report all the other states. And then it becomes real messy. And in the IMLC, they'll push it over. The states don't pull. So if you're in this. Offend. I wouldn't say the offending state or the state of primary complaint is it?
Is that even term? Anyways, they will push your info out to the other IMLC states, uhhuh. They share it. Yeah, they share it. They report it to the other states. Yeah. And then in some states, this is where it gets crazy in some states. You're actually supposed to report it to the board within 10 days.
Or 15 days . And if you don't do that and then the other state [00:24:00] reports it, you get a double ding. Yes. Yeah. and I think that's, anytime I renew my licenses, they asset, right. Da, da dah, dah, you know? Have you been? Right? So I could see how you get that double ding and it, that's hard to claw out of.
So if you're gonna try to get credentialed or licensed in that state, again, you're probably gonna go in front of the board and they're gonna ask, why did you follow what you agreed to do? why didn't you self-report? Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm licensed in 42 states. Yeah, I didn't know.
but that's not an excuse. you have to know. You have to know exactly what's going on with your licenses . What's the rumblings out there? Yeah, no, I agree. Oh anything else going on this month? Um, no, that's it. Just trying to get on top of work. I think the whole clinical work on the telemedicine platforms are kicking back in. I think over the summer we had a lull. I think it's the same patterns in [00:25:00] brick and mortar. especially in the ERs. So over the summers I think the numbers go down and as respiratory season comes up, the ERs get full and I think, the clinical platforms are also getting busier.
And it's funny 'cause I know over the summer, and this is just what I've seen and observed. A lot of these companies are scaling down cutting hours, so forth and so on. And now they're asking for more clinical hours for the doctors that they were just like, oh, you know, hang on tight.
and I don't know if you've seen this too, is a switch, and I've been commenting on this too, is a switch of how the kind of telemedicine businesses that are flourishing now or that are staying right.
In the initial phase of telemedicine. just call it the golden age, during COVID, immediately post COVID, there's a lot of direct to consumer, companies that were up . You know how many of those, I think we talked about this in the past, how many of those are gone now?
these big companies that showed up and now they're [00:26:00] switching their approach to, B2B, direct payers, things like that. So being aware of that, and I think, preparing yourself, especially as an individual doctor, working for these companies, preparing for that kind of model.
Yeah, I agree. I think I see it in two ways. I see it. And I think we heard it from Wyatt of Molly Health when he came off right, of if you don't have health insurance, go pay cash. Go pay cash. So to me, I feel like especially with the tax subsidies changing, people are like, what is the point?
What is the point of your, if you're a healthy adult. Are you gonna take the gamble? honestly, like in today's world, I think people are, yeah. And they just wanna do cash pay that's gonna be huge. I think too, it's gonna be interesting to see how that sways the telemedicine market too, and that, how that sways kind of these businesses, right?
Because Yeah, these subsidies are going away. You're right. Yeah, it's gonna make a [00:27:00] huge difference on what people are able to pay for, able to afford. But it was interesting that you mentioned, why you're talking about that. 'cause I would've never guessed,just going cash pay would've been a lot cheaper, than paying your copay, or paying your limit.
Yeah, It's interesting. I think that's where like you have a lot of like telemedicine companies. That I think, are probably gonna flourish in 2026, right? Yeah. I think you're gonna have a lot of people that are gonna go, if I'm gonna get care, right? Like I'm going head to head right now with Kaiser, so I'm not the biggest fan right now of traditional insurance.
Butif you're gonna pay all this money, you might as well at least pay it for a doctor that you want. You don't have to jump through hoops , right? You can go see it virtual . You could get prescribed the thing that you're really trying to address, and I think more and more people are just getting fed up with the traditional, and again, like unless you have to go through that route, like Medicaid or Medicare, I think they're gonna try to avoid it.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's a smart thing to do, [00:28:00] right? and yeah, we're gonna have to be ready to see that . And Maybe we'll see a swing back direct to consumer . Yeah, maybe you never know. It's good catching up with you, Leo.
Yeah. No, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it's nice getting this wrap up even though it's a slightly little late, but yeah, we,
yeah. Yeah, for some upcoming episodes we have a few other topics. So I am going to include a couple of the physician assistants that I consult for. And they're gonna come in and just talk about their. Jump into kind of like business ownership and telemedicine, which I think is gonna be really fun.
I, that's gonna be interesting because, we see a lot of nurse practitioners, right? Jumping into the telemedicine space I think partly that's due to the rules that they set up themselves, right? And how they collaborate with doctors.
How they're supervised by doctors, right ?
I'm interested to hear the pa experience in telemedicine and in that [00:29:00] entrepreneurial kind of jump into in the telemedicine space . we've seen a lot of nmps, creating their own businesses, going clinical.
And there's this whole collaborative kind of marketplace between physicians and nmps, but not so much with PAs. And I think it has a lot to do the rules and the supervision rules that they've created for themselves or, within their community. And now, the PAs are getting wind of this and they're like, Hey, I want a part of this.
Rightly I think. And, personally with the training that the PAs have, it's closer to the medical school model, Yeah, absolutely. They should get into this and it's gonna be interesting to see what their take is and what obstacles, specific obstacles they have to get into this and how can we, in the physician community help overcome those obstacles if we want to and help.
push that along. Yeah, that's a cool topic to have. I can't wait to have that. Yeah. it's gonna be really fun. And then we have [00:30:00] also one of my mentors who's gonna come on and she has done a lot of policy work, lobbyist, Worked for top payers, and just does a lot of like healthcare work.
And so she's gonna come in and just talk a little bit about her stuff too and what she's seeing from the payer and the telemedicine side. and I think another interesting topic, because That's huge. A lot of these telemedicine companies and startup companies, their clinical model is shaped on these rules, right?
Getting to know how these rules are made and how they're shaped. I think gives you an upper hand,when you come in and say, Hey, I want to be your CMO, I wanna be your medical director. And, this is how I could help with this understanding. Also another thing that's coming up is, every year there's this health conference.
But it is thetechnology like conference of the year, right? It's where a lot of these companies come in [00:31:00] and pitch themselves. and it's tailored to VCs and, getting themselves funded, so forth and so on. As a telemedicine doctor, I think it's interesting to go in and, get the lay of the land, a lot of doctors that are going into telemedicine have asked me recently, Hey, is it worth going? And, my comment was, yeah, I think it is because it gives you an idea of what's up and coming, what the market's priority is and how people approach things. And if you're trying to get on in the business space of things, I think it's important to know how people approach that, right?
Because if you just keep yourself in the clinical space, if you are just strictly just clinical, probably not the conference for you to go to, right? But if you're looking into kind of the up and coming technologies, up and coming startups and really just the vibe of how things move and shake.
In the back end, in the underground, the telemedicine business. [00:32:00] That's one thing to consider going to, yeah, health stresses me out. Full stop director. It's a lot. for me personally, it was too big. I like the more intimate the I'm a policy nerd, so to me, a TA, that has to do with government.
it's all underfunded, not flashy,there's no lunch, like there's no fancy vendors. but health is fun. It's like a party though. There was somebody that looked in up and they were like, it looked like a Taylor Swift concert, but that's how they market it.
There's a lot of energy, a lot of caffeine going around, but that's what it is, it's trying to promote innovation in healthcare. And it's funny on the doctor end too, you go in there and being a physician, you're like. Honestly, none of this could happen without the physicians, right?
Like none of this healthcare could happen without the physicians and almost alarming to see the lack of [00:33:00] involvement that I would expect the physicians to have in such a big kind of conference, It's absent. in the past years there was like a nursing section and a dietician, or like a diet section, but there was never necessarily a physician section.
But that whole conference really can't happen without the physicians. And it was alarming to see the paucity of influence that physicians actually really had. Or maybe I was just missing something. Maybe I was looking something. But yeah, it was just. The physicians almost just as a second thought, right?
oh, they're always gonna be there. I think, It's a little bit more up and coming. The whole physician entrepreneur type thing. but again, like now you have physician owners. You have a lot of like physicians jumping into the driver's seat and doing all this stuff.
I can't wait to hear all about it. hopefully we get some guests from here. Bring your knack. bring knack and Bring our business cards. Phoebe has so many questions for you, right?
I know. I should give you a list. We need [00:34:00] these people. Yes, actually, that'd be awesome. So funny. All right. Cool. So that's up and coming and yeah, I don't know. That's all I got. That's all I got. A
it was good catching up. We'll have, a bunch of cool topics coming up and we hope everybody joins us on another episode of Telemedicine Talks. Yeah, we'll see you then. Thank you for joining.