Although this article doesn’t
pertain exactly to St Lawrence county, it discusses some technologies that
would prove beneficial to rural areas. There is a large population of people
living in St Lawrence county that have a low economic income and so some of the
costs that come with critical medical procedures can have a negative impact on
either the decision to receive treatment or the lifestyle following the
procedure to pay off the bills. This
article discusses ways to use telemedicine as a cost effective care.
One
initiative is aimed at poison intoxications. They hope to set up a system where
all a person would have to do is snap a photo on their smart phone and send it
to a specialist to analyze so that when the patient gets to the hospital they
have treatment already set up. It would also help the people around the victim
to tell them what to do. The faster the medical can treat the victim the less
likely there is going to be any longer term damage and thereby shortening the
hospital stay.
The other
innovative idea they have come up with is to use a devise that can monitor
neonates from the families home. This device allows the baby to be discharged
about 1 week earlier and costs about 2000$. “Considering a NICU stay costs about $5,000 per day, the $2,000 telemed
system replaces $35,000 in hospital costs, per patient ($5,000 x 7 days).”
Hospital stays can be quite
expensive and especially if one lives in a rural area. Not only are they
racking up a large medical bill, they are missing work as well as the family
member who is there with the sick person. Anything that helps decrease the
hospital time not only saves the patient money but also opens up space for
others that need treatment and care.
I think that Telemedicine is a great idea for people in rural communities who may not have immediate access to specialists and can only get to their local clinic which might not have the ability to be staffed by a doctor 24/7. This ensures that they get care without it being an expensive burden. This might encourage more people to seek medical attention and prevent the progression of many diseases.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to see new innovative ideas that are geared to allow a better access to care. Telemedicine not only could reduce a significant debt burden on rural communities, but could also alleviate debt burden in America in general. Thinking outside the box, much like this article demonstrates, is what is desperately needed in regard to repairing our broken healthcare system.
ReplyDeleteTelehealth is a great way improve health care provided to individuals loving in rural communities while also lowering health care costs. I have recently head about the Syracuse VA's Telehealth program which helps to provide veterans with care for chronic illnesses like diabetes, COPD, or PTSD from home or a local(rural) doctors office without the need to travel a distance to the Syracuse VA for their appointments. This kind of technology improves patient compliance and management and can have a big impact on decreasing medical care costs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telehealth.va.gov/ccht/index.asp