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Daily FYI October 21, 2009 Health Care Reform Should Do More To Boost Telemedicine Source: iHealthBeat The health care reform bill recently passed by the Senate Finance Committee includes telemedicine-related provisions, but some health care experts say the legislation does not go far enough, Scripps Howard News Service reports. Darrell West, vice president of the Brookings Institution, said, "There needs to be policy changes that recognize the virtues of telemedicine."
The Market for Telehealth Source: Federal News Radio More and more healthcare companies are turning to their phones and wireless applications to treat patients. So it's not surprising that the market for telehealth devices and services is expected to bring in more than $3 billion over the next five years. A new report estimates at least 25 percent of health information technology stimulus funds will be applied toward telehealth services like remote access to medical records, smart phone applications and remote patient monitoring.
New Rule Could Exclude EMTs from Telemedicine Source: EMS Responder A rule change proposed in August to the Texas Medical Board, the official agency that oversees medical practice in the state, redefines so-called patient site presenters--the caregivers physically with patients who receive care via telemedicine from distant physicians--as being restricted to advanced-practice nurses, physician assistants or physicians. Currently, presenters can include a broader range of health professionals.
Is There a Doctor on the Line? Source: Texas Weekly Emergency medical technicians and entry-level nurses could be cut out of the telemedicine equation under a proposal the Texas Medical Board is considering. The change would prohibit anyone but doctors, physicians' assistants and advanced practice nurses from presenting patients for care via long-distance videoconferencing – a move rural hospitals and prison doctors adamantly oppose.
Mobile Telemedicine Helps Patients In Transit Source: Information Week Healthcare IP-enabled cameras and other telemedicine gear lets doctors remotely examine sick patients in ambulances. Telemedicine gear often helps patients and clinicians connect with remote physicians, but for the most part, those interactions typically take place from "fixed" locations, such as a home or office within another medical facility. However, a new telemedicine configuration developed with clinicians from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is linking patients in ambulances with remote medical specialists.
Telemedicine May Help Rural Trauma Surgeons Avoid Medical Errors And Unnecessary Patient Transfers Source: Medical News Today Telemedicine can help health care providers in rural areas stabilize and treat trauma victims when long distances or inclement weather prevents immediate transfer to an accredited trauma center. Trauma surgeons in a telemedicine program in Maine reported on their experience at the 95th annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons through a scientific exhibit presentation.
Telemedicine Sites to Help Children Source: Federal Telemedicine News Many people living in rural or remote Texas communities know that one of the biggest challenges is to access pediatric health services. More than half of the counties in Texas do not have a general pediatrician and in many cases, gaining access to pediatric care involves lengthy travel to locations where pediatric healthcare specialists are available. |
