• Digital Health

The Power of Virtual Visits for Children

June 19, 2023

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families experienced the challenges of staying home. However, for Weston Mahady and his loved ones, social distancing proved to be a blessing in disguise. 

The convenience of virtual appointments with Boston Children’s specialists, Weston, who sees 20 specialists, achieved developmental milestones with the less stressful telehealth visits.

“We’re incredibly sad that it took a pandemic to get us here, but we’re so happy that telehealth became an option for us,” expresses Ali, Weston’s mother.

Liberating Childhood from Constraints

Weston, now a resilient 5-year-old, faces the complexities of various medical conditions. In addition to three rare conditions, he battles epilepsy and is legally blind. His comprehensive care requires visits to over 20 different departments at Boston Children’s Hospital, which is located over an hour away from their home. 

By the time Weston turned one, he had accumulated nearly 300 hospital visits, consuming entire days due to travel. With multiple sensory challenges, waiting to be seen by numerous care teams only amplified his stress.

“Weston was unhappy a lot and struggled to eat,” Ali recalls.“He didn’t have time to just be a kid.”

The Telehealth Breakthrough

Then came March 2020. As families stayed at home, Boston Children’s Hospital expanded its telehealth services, making virtual visits readily available.

Before long, Weston and his parents were able to virtually connect with many other healthcare providers, including Dr. Bat-Sheva Levine, an endocrinologist, and Dr. Heather Olson, a neurologist. 

Both physicians transitioned a significant portion of Weston’s care to telehealth visits. The result? Streamlined appointments that allowed for greater focus, supplemented by check-ins through phone calls and emails.

“They’re able to take a look at Weston and discuss his care with us while he plays,” Ali shares.

Progress in the Comfort of Home

Virtual visits have bestowed Weston with a precious resource that was once scarce—time to grow and thrive. 

He has blossomed into an extraordinary child in the few years since transitioning to telehealth, says his mother. Walking, running, climbing, and riding his tricycle, accomplishments that seemed unattainable in the past, are now part of his reality. 

Without the burden of travel and multiple in-person hospital visits, his appetite has returned, allowing him to “graduate” from several departments at Boston Children’s, including gastroenterology, nutrition, and pulmonology. Weston has just completed his second year of preschool.

Virtual visits have emerged as an invaluable option for medically stable children like Weston, reducing the necessity for hands-on treatments in most healthcare situations. In the few years since switching most of his care to telehealth, he’s “blossomed,” Ali affirms. “He’s like a totally different kid — and we’re huge advocates of telehealth.” 

 

Sources:
https://answers.childrenshospital.org/weston-telehealth/
https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions/epilepsy?_ga=2.124970191.492190057.1688578792-1122666667.1688578792
https://www.childrenshospital.org/programs/virtual-visits?_ga=2.113910978.492190057.1688578792-1122666667.1688578792
https://www.childrenshospital.org/programs/care-children-medical-complexity
https://www.childrenshospital.org/directory/bat-sheva-levine