When it comes to diagnosing rare genetic disorders, telemedicine looks to be just as effective as in-person appointments, according to a June 1 study published in Pediatrics.
Researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia compared 5,854 patient encounters from both before and after the pandemic brought in a widespread adoption of telemedicine. They looked at the time it took to get diagnostic tests back and samples completed as well as the prevalence of diagnosis of genetic disorders.
Both in-person and virtual telemedicine appointments produced the same amount of molecular diagnosis of patients, suggesting that telemedicine gave the same clinical results and care as in-person appointments. However, collecting diagnostic data from tests took longer for telemedicine patients.