Telehealth Technology Breaking the Barrier of Geography

Digital stethoscopes, otoscopes, home hemodialysis programs, video conferencing, electronic consults…you name it: digital healthcare technologies are being delivered to patients who would otherwise face significant challenges accessing the care they need for managing chronic conditions. Press play to discover:

• How biometric data can be transmitted from inside a patient's home, to a physician located hundreds of miles away
• To what degree telehealth services have reduced wait times for VA patients
• What telehealth is like, from a patient's perspective (what's good, what can be improved, what it means to receive the majority of care electronically)

Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh, Department of Medicine and Clinical Director of Telehealth Services at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Dr. Archana Bandi, is an endocrinologist who cares for patients with chronic illnesses, including diabetes, chronic obesity, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, and thyroid disease—conditions she says lend themselves very well to telehealth. She discusses the importance of telehealth, emerging healthcare technology trends, and her experience with patients—one of whom (David) joins her on today's show.

"…Telehealth and video conferencing works for folks like myself who are distant from the medical centers for the VA…it affords us the opportunity to be one on one with our physician, as if we were sitting in the office right there with them," says David.

Electronic consultations (e-consults) took off in 2011 for Veteran Health Affairs, and is now an integral part of the care they provide. Beyond e-consults, they provide video clinics to patient homes, and video teleconferencing to patients in remote areas. These patients can go to their primary care office to be triaged by local nurses before being electronically connected to physicians located states away.

Technology in healthcare is closing the gap for veterans who need to access the right type of care at the right time, regardless of where they live.

Tune in for the details of all this and more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK