Three days after the Covid shutdown, Main Line Health was among the many healthcare systems around the world that found themselves scrambling to develop a plan for offering telehealth to patients. Remarkably, it took MLH just two weeks, according to Dr. John Potts, its vice president and chief medical information officer.
Elsewhere in the region, Penn Medicine had already been dabbling in telehealth before the pandemic, conducting about 500 virtual visits a month. In March 2020, that number skyrocketed to 8,000 in a single day.
Five years later, Potts reports that Main Line Health patients still prefer to be seen in person. (Coincidentally or not, that was also the theme of an MLH advertising campaign that covered billboards throughout our region.) Virtual visits have dropped from 50% in 2020 to about 4% currently.
“A lot of people say Gen Z is using telehealth more because of the ‘I want it now’ Amazon culture. There’s definitely truth to that. But it’s also benefited our geriatric population.”
—Dr. John Potts
Crozer Health had a larger percentage of virtual visits in 2024, but it was still only about 8%. Not surprisingly perhaps, that bumped to 10% November through February.
In January 2024, when Jefferson Health joined forces with Crozer as a strategic partner, they took over the latter’s neuroscience program, where telehealth has been fully embraced. “They’re currently doing tele-neurology,” says Dr. Dina Capalongo, Crozer’s chief medical officer. “There’s a sophisticated robot that the provider does rounds with, and the robot connects to a neurologist at Jefferson Health.”
A hybrid model is also being used in Crozer’s radiology department. When a patient comes to the emergency department and has an MRI or CAT scan, a remote reader views the images and sends a diagnosis back. “That was even happening pre-Covid,” Capalongo notes. “It’s especially helpful in the evening. Many times, these tele-radiology companies could be in a country where it’s completely the opposite of our time zone. Now we’re not relying on someone who might be sleepy while reading an image at 3 a.m.”
Virtual urgent care has also helped alleviate the crush in busy emergency rooms, reducing unnecessary visits. And at Penn Medicine, psychiatric appointments are virtual more often than not. “It’s effective when you don’t need to physically examine a patient,” says Dr. C. William Hanson III, the system’s chief medical information officer.
Telehealth has also proven helpful for smaller, independent medical offices. Dr. Lauren Rosen founded LSR Wellness in Haverford to offer more personalized care to her clients without the sometimes overbearing umbrella of a large system.
“Telemedicine will never replace the benefits of in-person care, but it can definitely advance the ball in terms of helping my patients manage their concerns,” says Rosen, who still has plenty of office visits. “People have hectic schedules, and sometimes sitting in front of the doctor is simply not necessary. Rather than spending the time and energy getting into the office, we can often discuss something in depth on the phone and come up with an action plan in a fraction of that time.”
A century ago, physicians would make house calls. “But then we migrated to a patient having to come to the doctor’s office to get medical care,” says Hanson.
So you could argue that by bringing care back to the home through telehealth, we’re back to where we started—albeit in a more technologically advanced manner. Initially, it did present a challenge on many levels. Health systems worried that older patients would struggle—but that demographic caught on more quickly than expected, perhaps out necessity. Hanson’s mother was able to figure it out, and she was in her 90s. It also helped that systems like Main Line Health provided tech support to assist struggling patients.
“I don’t know that one population has benefited the most,” says Potts. “A lot of people say Gen Z is using it more because of the ‘I want it now’ Amazon culture. There’s definitely truth to that. But it’s also benefited our geriatric population.”
For older patients, telehealth may be the only option when they aren’t feeling well enough to leave the house, the weather is bad or transportation to the doctor’s office is difficult to come by. “Different generations have different reasons for using telemedicine,” Hanson adds.
For younger populations with busy schedules, it’s a convenient alternative when they can’t find time to visit the office. Or, if they’re out of town and don’t want to see a stranger at an urgent-care facility, they can schedule a virtual visit. Telehealth can also incorporate a translator or even a concerned family member who lives out of state.
“Telemedicine will never replace the benefits of in-person care, but it can definitely advance the ball in terms of helping my patients manage their concerns.”
—Dr. Lauren Rosen
For more seasoned physicians, virtual visits can take some getting used to. That shouldn’t be the case for their younger contemporaries. “This new generation of clinicians is being taught that skill,” says Potts. “We’re starting to see that generation, which is a wonderful thing for society.”
Aside from her responsibilities at Crozer, Capalongo still sees patients at her Glen Mills practice. Thirty years ago, in-person interaction with was a crucial part of her medical school training. She learned how to properly conduct exams through touch and effectively communicate with strong eye contact. At the start of her career, telehealth was unheard of—and there will continue to be a lot to learn as new technologies evolve.
Capalongo suspects that the next frontier will involve artificial intelligence. “I might be retired by then,” she says, with a noticeable sigh of relief.
Related: Your Guide to Healthcare Across the Main Line Region
