MS Living Well Podcast: The Virtual Appointment: Telemedicine and Multiple Sclerosis

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Telemedicine is use of electronic technology to allow exchange of health information between locations. The use of telemedicine has rapidly become the standard for patient visits with their neurologists since March 2020.  To reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure by going to a doctor’s office, remote appointments have become routine with use of phones, tablets and computers. Dr. Krieger from New York City and Dr. Okai from Dallas discuss their early insights to advantages and disadvantages of the new virtual appointments for their patients with multiple sclerosis. Tips to navigate the technology and improve your virtual visit shared. These MS experts share their advice on whether you should have a virtual appointment now or wait for an in-office appointment. The neurologists also speculate on the future of telemedicine.

Barry Singer MD, Director of The MS Center for Innovations in Care at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, interviews:

Annette Okai MD

Annette Okai, MD is a MS specialist and Medical Director of the Baylor Scott & White Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center in Dallas, Texas.  She completed her residency in Neurology in 2006 and fellowship in Neuroimmunology in 2008. Dr. Okai interests include studying multiple sclerosis in diverse populations and the utilization of conventional and novel MRI techniques in multiple sclerosis.

Stephen Krieger, MD is a MS specialist at the Corrinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for MS at Mount Sinai in New York.  He is an Associate Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of the Neurology Residency Training Program.  He created a topographical model to better understand MS disease course that has been adopted globally.

Stephen Krieger