Telemedicine could be antidote to shortage of geneticists
In May, the Cleveland Clinic hired David Flannery, MD, as its director of digital genetics—with a specific goal of boosting telegenetic offerings. A pied piper of telemedicine for decades, Flannery believes it can help meet demand and control costs.
"Every year, I kept saying this is the future, you know, telemedicine's the future," Flannery said. "And it's finally reached the point where it has, and it's because the technology's not the complication anymore. It's the human factor of getting telemedicine services organized that's the real challenge. … It's a matter of getting patients connected with providers and figuring out how to make that happen."
Crain’s Cleveland Business spoke with Flannery about challenges related to genetics, which has seen demand skyrocket in the last few years.
"There's limited number of geneticists in the country, and limited number of genetic counselors in the country," said Flannery. "And the distribution of genetic providers is not very well-distributed because most of us are in academic medical centers, and patients are scattered all over."
Read more about Flannery and the Cleveland Clinic at Crain’s:
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.