The International Man of Medicine: Dr. George Lombardi

This SimpleVisit Spotlight highlights an intriguing concierge doctor based in New York City who is caring for patients located all over the world. Dr. George Lombardi has added SimpleVisit’s telemedicine service to increase his ability to monitor patients traveling and/or living internationally. It was a pleasure to interview Dr. Lombardi and take a look at how video visits are being used to conduct long distance medical consultations.

Imagine traveling far from home in a distant country when your chronic ailment suddenly begins to worsen. Shopping for a foreign physician who is unfamiliar with your medical history is not ideal. So what would you do? Patients of Dr. George Lombardi’s Sutton Place Personalized Medicine would have access to personalized care through the power of telemedicine. Dr. Lombardi uses SimpleVisit to connect to virtual consultations wherever they might be in the world. His patients routinely benefit from managed care conducted through video visit sessions.

As an internist of 30 years, Dr. George Lombardi spent the majority of his career maintaining conventional practice with a focus on infectious disease. Over this period, Dr. Lombardi built quite the name for himself, developing an impressive network of patients who have relied on him for many years– the likes of which included Mother Theresa.  Coincidentally, travel has always been a factor for his business as patients depart the bustling streets of Sutton Place in Manhattan for worldwide adventure. This has forced him to find new ways to care for patients who may not be able to make it into the office due to geographic restrictions.

Sutton is not limited to the confines of NYC, as Dr. Lombardi and his team often find themselves asked to conduct visits with his patients around the world.  These visits were originally limited via phone and email exclusively. However, our international man of medicine knew that there had to be a better way.  The advent of telemedicine presented a new opportunity for personalized care regardless of distance. Dr. Lombardi and his patients can now be connected over video from any continent, anywhere in the world.

In the words of Dr. George Lombardi:

“I felt as if the quality of visits were lacking in phone calls and emails, video opened up the possibility for me to do much more with my patients and actually see them face to face. This has been especially valuable in follow up and medication review. Upwards of around 50% of patients are noncompliant or coherent with medication. During visits, I will often have patients line all their pill bottles in front of them, in addition to having the spouse take blood pressure and balance tests as needed. It really is a new level of connection made possible by video. Honestly, patients like to see my face, one’s relationship with a physician becomes increasingly valuable at a certain age, and as an internist my ability to check in on them and convey information is a large part of what I do.”

While many providers are interested in telemedicine, few have been able to effectively implement video visits among patients like our hero has.

“The patients have largely taken to it, it makes them feel that someone is looking out for them. We try and conduct visits with patients at least once every three months to check in on how things are going and do some screenings, and with video technology this has become much easier for patients to comply. My core patients seem to really like the service. My growth solely relies on word of mouth and recommendations due to the level of care I provide with services such as telemedicine.”

So what can we take away from the international man of medicine? Perhaps that healthcare is finally being brought into the age of globalization; where providers are not limited by the confines of a practice location. We are currently in an age where anyone worldwide can see a doctor at the click of a button and receive the care they desperately need.

About SimpleVisit

SimpleVisit is a video service which allows patients and providers to connect over the video platform of their choice. With SimpleVisit providers are able to deliver on-demand visits to patients over any device or platform they have available to them. For more information on SimpleVisit and on how we are enabling providers to host virtual visits check out www.SimpleVisit.com