Should You Use Telehealth or Not? That’s a Great Question! - Money Tip Tuesday

Let’s face it: most of us are looking at ways to cut costs or find value to make our dollars stretch further these days, but we don’t want to sacrifice our health care. In this tip we examine a new way to reduce healthcare costs.

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Transcript:

This is Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal Podcast.

By now, you’ve probably heard about Telehealth. If you haven’t, do a quick Google search and you’ll find that Telehealth is sometimes called telemedicine; it’s a service that lets your health care provider care for you without an in-person office visit. Telehealth is done primarily online with internet access on your computer, tablet, or smartphone—it’s basically a virtual office visit.

As a consumer and a parent of two young adults in college, we have used Telehealth in the past and it’s worked out great. We simply called the Telehealth number on the back of our healthcare card. When we called this number, we did not speak with our primary care physician. We speak with a care provider, which can be a doctor, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse). We basically explained our issue or symptoms, and a brief history of any ongoing medical problems.

After the discussion, there were some recommendations. Now, for serious medical issues, if you call a Telehealth provider, you most likely be directed to the Emergency Room or local urgent care for additional evaluation and care. It has been our experience, as a family, that most medical care requires an antibiotic, which the care provider can prescribe and call in for you at your local pharmacy.

For our family, we have enjoyed telehealth services and the positive experiences have been: (1) we have never had to wait online to speak with a care provider, (2) we don’t incur the costs of a co-pay or office visit, and (3) we have received the care we need.

This is a fantastic scenario for our one-off medical problems, but for ongoing or major medical care, we see our regular care provider.

In the instance your regular care provider does use Telehealth services, there are some guidelines for safeguarding your personal information from cybercriminals.

According to online security experts at Knowbe4Alert, you will want to:

Keep Your Device Up to Date

Whether you connect to telehealth using a smartphone or a computer, make sure the device is up to date with the latest security patches. This includes updating all applications, not just the ones used for telehealth purposes. Each app is a potential point of entry for cybercriminals. If the bad guys gain access to your device in any way, then your sensitive medical information will be at risk.

Use an Advanced Login

Telehealth services typically require users to create a username and password. If the service offers Multi-factor Authentication (MFA), use it! MFA requires you to enter your password and then enter another form of verification, such as a code sent via text message. If MFA isn’t offered, we recommend using a password manager to generate and securely store complex passwords.

Connect with a Secure Network

Never use a public Wi-Fi connection for telehealth services. You never know who could be watching and tracking your activity. When connecting from home, be sure to set up a strong password for your router. Default router passwords are often public knowledge or easy to guess. For the most secure network, connect to a virtual private network (VPN), which encrypts web traffic to protect your information.

Be diligent about your online activities as well as your health!

If you have any questions or comments, or ideas for more money tips, email us at TCUpodcast@TriangleCu.org. For more great content, subscribe to the Making Money Personal podcast wherever listen to podcasts, and follow us on Facebook.

Thank you to our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, voted the best credit union in NH and thank you for tuning in!

Have a great day!