Telehealth in primary care risks fragmentation of patient info

A new study suggests that the use of telemedicine in primary care could potentially lead to further fragmentation of care.

It’s possible that the use of the technology could lead to disconnected care, counteracting the benefits of improved patient access to care, contends Winston Liaw, MD, chairman of the Department of Health Systems and Population Health Sciences at the University of Houston’s College of Medicine.

“Video visit platforms have their own electronic health records that may or may not communicate with the broader healthcare system,” says Liaw. “We have two systems operating in parallel that are completely distinct silos that have very little communication between them. We need to watch this closely.”