Page 23 - Part 1 Introduction to Telemedicine

SVMIC Introduction to Telemedicine

checks for the elderly and provider-provider specialty

consultations like teleradiology and teleneurology can save not
only hours (or days) of time, but also provide access to high-level

specialty resources that would be impossible to provide in person.

Specialty Access

It is simply impossible to provide immediate physical access to the
full range of medical experts for every American; the geography is

just too great. When the problem depends solely on the transfer of
information, it is absurd to transport the patient when transmitting

the information between providers is so easy. This logic has been

successfully applied used by both rural and urban practitioners to
gain access to specialties like toxicology (poison control),

neurology, dermatology, cardiology, pathology, radiology, wound
care, rehabilitation and occupational medicine and even critical

care.

Telestroke services are a poster child for the successful provision
of highly specialized expertise in emergency settings, even to

hospitals well-equipped with diagnostic and treatment resources.
Having an experienced expert available 24 hours a day, who can

conduct a precise video examination (through the proxy of a local

clinician), review online imaging studies and recommend
intervention at the highest standard has improved treatment times

and outcomes for acute neurological conditions across the U.S.
1
Similar approaches have been taken in other critical care and

emergency specialties. Let’s review the following case:

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