THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, November 16, 2020 |R11
TYTOCARE
T
he Covid-19pandemic has dealt a pow-
erful punch to preventive care, delaying
everything from cancer screenings to
teeth cleaning. And with a surge in
cases around the country, patients may
still not feel comfortable with in-person
visits and procedures.
The good news is that there are proactive steps
patients can take to stay on top of health risks and
concerns without leaving home. Virtual consultations
are now being covered by public and private healthplans. Home monitoring and
testing devices can help man-
age chronic conditions—and
determine whether there is a
concern that requires an in-
person visit. And depending on
your personal risk factors, it
may be fine to delay some
screening tests.
Here’s a look at how and
when preventive screening
can be done safely at home,
and some guidelines for when
a visit to the doctor might
still be the best practice.Cancer screening
It is important to know yourA lot of people don’t want to go to
the doctor during Covid-19. You can
still stay on top of things.
A woman uses
a TytoCare
device for a
heart exam in
a telemedicine
visit with a
clinician.
A tablet
computer
displays her
heart reading
via the cloud-
based TytoVisit
platform.BYLAURALANDROJOURNAL REPORT|ENCORE
personal risk for different cancers,
and to follow screening guidelines of
theAmerican Cancer Societyand
other medical groups.
For example, colonoscopies, which
have dropped dramatically during the
pandemic, are considered the gold
standard for detecting colon cancer.
Dr. David A. Greenwald, president of
the American College of Gastroenter-
ology and director of clinical gastro-
enterology and endoscopy at Mount
Sinai Hospital in New York, says
colonoscopies are “as safe now as al-
ways,” with new measures such as
additional personal protective equip-
ment for clinicians and pre-proce-
dure Covid testing for patients. And
following scheduling guidelines—for
some, a colonoscopy every five years
is advised—is especially important
for those at higher risk due to family
history or the presence of certain
polyps in previous screenings.
For persons with average risk, and
no symptoms, an at-home kit that
enables users to collect stool sam-
ples for analysis by labs can be an
option. Both the fecal-immunochemi-
cal test and the fecal-occult-blood
test look for hidden blood in the
stool, a sign of possible colon cancer,
and should be repeated annually.
The American Cancer Society says
women aged 55 and older who have
had a normal mammogram within
the past year could choose to have
another as long as 24 months later.Skin care
Dermatologists are using more virtual
video consults and shared digital pho-
tos to determine when something is
worrisome enough for an in-person
visit. Dr. Jules Lipoff, assistant profes-
sor of clinical dermatology at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania and chair of
the American Academy of Dermatol-
ogy’s teledermatology task force, says
video consults can be ideal for help-
ing patients manage acne and rashes
such as eczema and psoriasis while
avoiding in-person contact.
To screen for skin cancer, it isn’t
necessary for someone without risk
factors or symptoms to come in for acheckup. But an in-person visit is
important for someone at higher
risk, such as a patient with a history
of melanoma. The academy’s web-
site, AAD.org also has a guideline for
patients on how to do a skin self-
exam.Mental-health help
For issues such as anxiety, depression
and substance abuse, video consults
offer an effective way to stay in close
contact with mental-health profes-
sionals, says John Torous, director of
the division of digital psychiatry at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
in Boston. Dr. Torous and his team of-
fer face-to-face sessions over a video-
conferencing platform and train pa-
tients to use a smartphone app called
mindLAMP between appointments to
take anxiety surveys, monitor their
medication regimens and keep a
mood journal.
Despite some past reluctance on
the part of clinicians and patients to
use the technology, “the pandemic
forced everyone to start embracing
telehealth, and realize these can be
very efficient and impactful visits,”
says Dr. Torous, who is also an assis-
tant professor of psychiatry at Har-
vard Medical School.At-home monitors
More devices and at-home-testing kits
make it easier to self-manage certain
diseases, such as high blood pressure
and diabetes, says Dr. Joseph Kvedar,
president of the American Telemedi-
cine Association and a professor of
dermatology at Harvard Medical
School. Among the tools he cites are a
hand-held telehealth device made by
Tyto Care which sells for $299 and al-
lows consumers to conduct virtual ex-
ams of their lungs, heart and ears, for
example, and share the data with a
doctor in a video consult.Ms. Landro, a former Wall Street
Journal assistant managing editor, is
the author of “Survivor: Taking
Control of Your Fight Against
Cancer.” Email:[email protected].Taking Care of Your Health—at Home