Richard Boxer1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2MH Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. MH Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: editor@themhealth.org
This interview can be cited as: Boxer R, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of MH: Dr. Richard Boxer. mHealth. 2024. Available from: https://mhealth.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-mh-dr-richard-boxer.
Expert introduction
Dr. Richard Boxer (Figure 1) is a Clinical Professor of Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, a national leader in healthcare policy and an international leader in telemedicine. He was the original Chief Medical Officer of Teladoc, where he wrote the policies and protocols that remain the standard for the telemedicine industry. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin undergraduate and medical schools with high honors and completed his training at UCLA in urology.
He has been a health policy adviser to the White House, HHS Secretaries, Senators, Representatives, and Governors. He was appointed to the Board of the National Institute of Diabetes, Kidney, and Digestive Diseases. As a private citizen, he represented the US at the World Health Organization. Dr Boxer was the finalist for Surgeon General of the US in 1995 in the Clinton Administration, and a short-list finalist in 2001 in the George W. Bush Administration, being the only American so honored from both sides of the aisle, demonstrating his deep and singular commitment to the patient. He was appointed by President Clinton in 1995 and by President Biden in 2023 to the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Dr. Boxer has had OP-Eds and published articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, JAMA, Harvard Business Review, Health Affairs, Real Clear Policy, New England Journal of Medicine, and numerous medical journals on health policy, telemedicine, cannabis, the opioid crisis, and veterans’ issues. He has published 73 medical journal articles, 14 book chapters, and has delivered 65 invited lectureships.
Figure 1 Dr. Richard Boxer
Interview
MH: What initially inspired you to pursue a career in urology? How did your career transition to focus on telemedicine and healthcare policy?
Dr. Boxer: The greatest and most satisfying achievement in my professional career is caring for an individual patient. However, the opportunity to help dozens, hundreds, or even millions of people drove me to work towards improving access to affordable, quality care for all patients. I initially worked in government (in the White House) to expand care, but the bureaucracy inhibited raid changes. When the Secretary of Health and Human Services left the government and asked me to join him at a start-up telemedicine company, Teladoc, I jumped at the opportunity. There I wrote the policy and procedures, expanded the network, and helped convince large companies and health insurance companies that telemedicine was the present and the future. I helped revolutionize the delivery of care to the US and the world.
MH: You have had a diverse career in clinical, academic, and policy-oriented roles. How have these different experiences shaped your career perspective on healthcare reform and patient advocacy?
Dr. Boxer: Every step of my career has focused on the centrality of the patient. Even though there have been different approaches and administration of the service to the patient, they are fundamentally the same: bring professional quality care and never stop caring.
MH: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine. In your view, what lessons have we learned from that period, and how can telemedicine continue to evolve in the post-pandemic world?
Dr. Boxer: Telemedicine utilization exploded during COVID-19. Since COVID has faded, the lessons continue. Telemedicine is an extraordinary tool for hundreds of millions of people who have little access to quality care. Whether it is financial or geographic, and usually both, people have had little access and therefore have been denied the miracles of modern medicine. Even in first-world nations, natural or manmade disasters may isolate people from caregivers. Telemedicine bridges those gaps.
MH: Despite the benefits, telemedicine is often deemed disruptive to the healthcare industry and poses several challenges regarding regulation, reimbursement, and quality-of-care. How can we ensure that telemedicine remains both accessible and high-quality for patients?
Dr. Boxer: Patients have experienced the benefits of telemedicine and will not allow governments or healthcare organizations to take it away. Health insurance companies like the financial benefits of reduced expense for equally good care and will continue to insist on telemedicine. Doctors may resist, but their employers, health systems, and governments, will compel them to use it.
MH: In your opinion, what is the most urgent healthcare policy issue that requires attention right now, and how can relevant stakeholders address it?
Dr. Boxer: The most urgent need is for people to once again believe in the value of science and medicine. The disinformation and conspiracy theorists have damaged the reputation of science and scientists. As they have sullied clinical and basic science, they have seriously impacted the health of patients. This can be shown in the more than 15% greater deaths among American Republicans compared to Democrats because Republicans believed preventive care including vaccines for COVID were a threat rather than a benefit. And the “anti-vaxxers,” led by Robert F Kennedy, Jr, threaten to increase morbidity and mortality of childhood diseases.
MH: Looking back on your career, what do you consider to be your most significant contributions to the field of urology and telemedicine?
Dr. Boxer: Again, I have had the privilege of caring for tens of thousands of patients, one at a time. But I was able to change the way medicine is delivered by being at the “cutting edge” of the telemedicine industry. Thus, through technology, the telemedicine industry has cared for tens if not hundreds of millions of people around the world.
MH: How has your experience been as a longstanding Editorial Board Member of MH?
Dr. Boxer: I have been honored to be part of a remarkably important journal editorial board. I have seen outstanding research from around the world. I have been with colleagues whose only desire is to bring important new and practice-changing information to the world.
MH: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations for MH?
Dr. Boxer: I expect MH to continue to teach the world about the importance of healthcare delivered through technological advances. The future of medicine will be bright, and will be illuminated by those who choose to read mHealth.