Jennifer Robblee, MD: Adapting to Telemedicine in Migraine Care

“Imagine: We have patients who live hours away who come for a visit, say everything is great, and end up leaving in 5 minutes. And then I say ‘Well, anything else you want to talk about? No? Well then enjoy your 3-hour drive back.’”

As the 2020 year begins to wind down, clinicians have taken the time to reflect on the adaptation of telemedicine into their clinical care. One such physician, Jennifer Robblee, MD, neurologist, Jan and Tom Lewis Migraine Treatment Program, and assistant professor of neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, told NeurologyLive that telemedicine has eliminated a lot of the grunt work that is involved with patient checkups.

On the other hand, Robblee recognizes that the limitations of telemedicine are certainly present, especially for new patients who are trying to build a relationship with a clinician who they are meeting for the first time. Despite the prominent role telemedicine has played in 2020 amid the pandemic, questions remain on whether it will be used as much going forward, especially with a potential vaccine on the way.

NeurologyLive spoke to Robblee in May, a time in which the acceleration of telemedicine was rampant. We reached out to her once again to get her end-of-year thoughts on where telemedicine stands now and if she anticipates it being as widely used in the coming year.