The rapid expansion of telemedicine has not only improved convenience for patients, it’s also bringing the latest health care technologies to rural areas. Check out these articles about telemedicine’s latest and greatest impacts.
Telemedicine Helps Stroke Patients
According to The Southern, Hamilton Memorial Hospital in McLeansboro now offers state-of-the-art telemedicine technology that puts a stroke patient in touch with immediate time-saving, life-saving stroke evaluation and treatment. The telemedicine program is the result of a Delta Health Care Services Grant from USDA Rural Development, which was awarded to Southern Illinois Healthcare.
“The telemedicine service means if you arrive in the emergency room with symptoms of a stroke, you have technology that gives immediate live access to doctors at the SIH Brain and Spine Institute in Carbondale—the largest neuroscience team in the region—24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Patty Blazier, chief nursing officer at Hamilton Memorial Hospital.
Telemedicine Brings Families Together
In the largely rural inland northwest, telemedicine is bridging the gap for doctors, families and medical care. Kristin Stone, a new mother, explained her experience with telemedicine in monitoring her newborn baby. He needed special care not available at the hospital and was flown to St. Alphonsus in Boise. In the past, the newborn would have been cared for by staff in Idaho and Kristin would have been in La Grande waiting to heal before being able to see her new baby again. Except St. Alphonsus has the technology to bridge the distance.
“We kept the camera on all day,” Neonatologist Dr. Stewart Lawrence explained. “The resolution is so good that I can see the difference between a pimple and a freckle…. We can beam in now with a portable hand held device like an iPhone or tablet.”
The camera is one of fourteen medicine robots at St. Alphonsus. Using this technology to connect Kristin with her baby allowed her to soothe the newborn something her husband, Brian, noticed immediately: “We would see that response from him. When she would talk to him over the audio, his breathing would steady and he would relax.”
USDA Increases Rural Telehealth Funding
Healthcare IT News reported that U.S. Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced the expansion of the USDA Rural Development’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program with $23.4 million in additional funding for 75 new projects in 31 states. This expansion enables states to purchase telemedicine educational tools, equipment and services in rural areas.
“Rural communities often lack access to specialized medical care or advanced educational opportunities necessary for stronger rural economies,” Vilsack said in a statement. “These grants will help increase access to health care and many other essential services.”
In good timing, the announcement was made on National Rural Health Day to highlight progress in the private sector, academia, and state and federal rural health offices in addressing the ever-increasing need to expand telehealth capabilities.
