A specialty group is asking federal and state governments to preserve and expand access to telehealth services for children with developmental and behavioral problems.
Citing the success during the COVID-19 pandemic of telehealth for these patients, the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (SDBP) has issued a position statement in its official journal calling for continued use of video and telephone for home-based diagnostic assessments, medication management follow-ups, and therapeutic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
Dr Robert Keder
"Telehealth offers plenty of opportunities for quick check-ins. It can offer some crisis management opportunities…to address a parent's concern about challenging behaviors or navigating school system issues or developmental needs," lead author Robert Keder, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, and co-chair of SDBP's Advocacy Committee, told Medscape Medical News.
"The video visit does really offer us so much more. It's so enriching and lets us as providers meet the child in their natural home environment. The real magic of a video visit is we haven't done house calls as a medical society for decades. But now, literally, the power of telehealth lets us do a house call."
