Locally, a bill recently proposed in Minnesota by DFL Representative Kim Norton (Rochester, MN) aims to allow similar flexibility in licensure for Minnesota nurses practicing telemedicine in other states by allowing their participation in the Nursing License Compact.

As Information Technology networks grow and strengthen, so do the possibilities for telemedicine services. These bills could be an important step in recognizing those possibilities, a change that would benefit patients and providers alike.

To read the full article and find more information on Senator Udall’s bill, click here.

So, here is how the story goes: One of my dentist’s patient’s son was playing hockey over the weekend and got hit with a hockey stick in the mouth and two of his teeth were knocked out.  The player and his family had some quick decisions to make; call their dentist on his cellular phone or go to the ER.  They chose to call their dentist. After a minute or so of discussion about the problem, the dentist asked if they had a smartphone  to take a couple of pictures with and send them to him.  They did!  They sent him a text message with a couple images of the hockey player’s mouth with the two missing teeth. These pictures gave the dentist enough information to provide the family with an immediate medical advice and suggested treatment.  The dentist said “The picture was exactly what I needed to make the evaluation, and, although this cannot provide the same results as a  face-to-face visit where you can palpate someone’s mouth , this picture solved a big part of the puzzle!”  The family was extremely pleased with the outcome of their teledentistry visit.  Not only did they not have to go to the ER to wait for hours and receive care from a provider who is not a dentist, they got the care immediately from their own dentist!

Although, a face-to-face visit to the dentist is the method that we all have been accustomed to because it’s reimbursed by insurance and it’s covered by regulatory policies,  this story shows how telehealth, in general, can be integrated into our daily lives and how easy, inexpensive and most importantly valuable, can be.

The speaker from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, Dr. Nancy Nielsen, shared a connection from the President’s State of the Union speech… “Technology makes some jobs more efficient…and other jobs obsolete.” It directly referrenced manufacturing…but can easily apply to healthcare as well. It will be important for us all to prepare for the personnel needs and changes that HIT brings.

Another concern she raised was that medical expenses are the/a main cause of personal bankruptcy. We need to continue to provide care in a more cost-effective manner. It is my thought that telemedicine/telehealth plays a very important role in accomplishing this goal. She shared that, on average, the income for a family of four increased $23,000 over the past decade…and that all but $85 of that increase has gone to pay for healthcare. This was a startling statistic!

If Dr. Nielsen is an indication of the quality of speakers at this meeting, it will certainly be an interesting few days!

Click here to read the whole story.

Nearly 20 percent of fairgoers screened were advised to seek further evaluation for skin cancer.  Seventeen were suspected of skin cancer and twenty-seven for suspected pre-cancer skin conditions.

“Many of these fairgoers hadn’t made it a priority to get screened for skin cancer until they came upon our booth.  I think this demonstrates that telehealth services can help increase access to specialty care, like dermatological screenings, to ultimately help reduce overall healthcare costs through earlier diagnosis, management and treatment of disease,” said Stuart Speedie, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and Director of gpTRAC.  “Clearly, we accomplished something very positive at the State Fair and hopefully helped prevent the advancement of a dangerous disease in several Minnesotans.”

Telehealth offers increased healthcare service delivery to medically-underserved communities by connecting patients to specialists via technology.  More convenient access to care minimizes patient travel time, reduces out-of-pocket costs and increases the likelihood that patients obtain care when they need it.

During a telemedicine consultation, which can be conducted in a growing number of clinics across the state, a patient is connected to a specialist who is in a separate location via video. A nurse is often on hand with the patient to conduct physical exam tasks as requested by the specialist. Cameras and other monitoring tools allow the specialist to see on screen exactly what the nurse is seeing in person. In addition to skin cancer screenings, telehealth can be used for mental health evaluations, orthopedic consults, management of chronic diseases and a wide range of other medical services.

“This event wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of dermatologists at the University of Minnesota who volunteered 140 hours of time to conduct free screenings during the fair.  With their help raising awareness of telehealth, we hope that access to telehealth services will continue to grow across the state of Minnesota,” added Speedie.

The gpTRAC is one of eleven federally designated telehealth resource centers in the nation supported by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  Serving Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wisconsin, the gpTRAC strives to promote health care services that take advantage of modern telecommunications technologies.  For more information, visit accesstelehealth.org or gptrac.org.

Click here to see a video of the state fair telehealth visits.