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Telemedicine Comes Into Its Own
goG writes "Telemedicine — providing care using advanced communications technology may be coming into its own with a little help from Uncle Sam. The Obama administration recently awarded $795 million in grants and loans for 66 new broadband projects. Most of these projects will involve using videoconferencing equipment to allow doctors to consult on medical procedures or examinations remotely."
It's cured cancer, among so many other things. It's because the way to get large Federal grants is by demonstrating that you are the most competent and innovative organization.
Medical practices bring in enough money to do this on their own if/when it is appropriate for their business to have the capability. I did some consulting work for a large medical practice like 9 years ago to give them this capability and they paid for it without having to spend tax dollars.
In a down economy with an enormous budget deficit, this is just completely irresponsible.
Government funding technology??? Maybe I was just looping back to a strange, twilight zone-ish 8 years for some reason.
And before you mark this as a troll or flamebait, just remember that during this 8 years I speak of, we stopped funding the UN for AIDS education in Africa because funding for abortion also came from that funding. So anyone want to chime in on how Africa is doing as a whole? Better or worse? I sound like an optician here...
Coming soon: Your insurance company will pay the maximum benefit if and only if you use their preferred tele-presence doctors from India.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
OK, great but this initiative lays the groundwork to outsource certain medical specialities like radiology and pathology to lower cost countries. Why is this a good way to spend tax money?
If you outsource medicine to outsourcing companies, this is what will happen to your data!!
You can assume your data will also be on the roadside, like this Microsoft tech support.;)
I was a research assistance for a study conducted in 2007, which surveyed the usage of Telemedicine in Minnesota. http://www.mti.umn.edu/mti.html, (be kind, it was my first web application ever, and it has since been broken by the people maintaining it).
The primary usage, IIRC, was for psychiatric health. In particular, mental health facilities in northern Minnesota seemed to favor this approach; it is much cheaper to employ councilors and "out-source" a MD rather than have a full-time psychiatrist on staff.
Telemedicine may be more cost-effective, but IMHO it will probably be abused and doctors (like radiologists), whom are already very busy, will be pushed even harder. Computer-Aided-Diagonsis tools, like those in existence for detecting microcalcifications in breast tissue, will become essential. Over-worked doctors miss things, and sometimes a computerized second opinion can improve the quality of diagnoses while holding down costs.
DISCLAIMER: I am not in the medical industry, but I did some research as an undergrad on the things mentioned above.
HI doctor nick!
Someone suggested that insurance companies might direct their customers to call center doctors in third-world countries. That's already happening. This is the real world of "telemedicine". This is a real ad:
Doctors needed for a Call Center Jobs in Pakistan
MBBS Doctors needed to work in our Call Center
Contact: Mr. Aftab Ibrahim (aftab@catcos.com)
Mr. Wasif Balouch Ashrafi (wasif@catcos.com)
Or Call on 021-34549291 - 021-34529748
Am I the only one who grasped the dissonance between the words "comes into its own" and "$795 million in grants." Have we really stooped to the point where people have mentally redefined success and functionality as the ability to successfully lobby the government for cash?
You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.
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I've been a developer on a Telemedicine project for the last 4.5 years. One thing that really surprised me was just how much money can be saved by using telemed.
Ear tubes are a great example, where I live there is a high incidence of ear tubes in young children. The surgery to install the ear tubes are only a part of the overall total cost. One of the biggest costs if follow up care. So the patient and a guardian travels a great distance to the hospital for a 15 minute appointment to have the doc say that everything is OK. Total direct cost for that is upwards of $3000 (airfare, hotel, per diem), that doesn't count lost wages for the guardian.
Using telemed, the patient goes into the local clinic, they snap a few pics of the tympanic membrane using a video otoscope and the health aide sends that information to the doctor for review. Total cost to the patient, about 15-30 minutes.
I've posted this anonymously for a couple of reasons, the biggest being I don't want readers to think I'm stumping or trying to spam my employer.
Now they will be able to ration and deny care at a much faster pace, while keeping the patient at home since we won't have any oil to power our cars. Great plan.
I work for a small mental health company in Utah that serves 3 counties. When we setup our telemedicine system we significantly reduced our costs. We no longer have to pay as much for travel and hotels for our doctors, they just see clients over telemed no matter which county they are in. Their workload hasn't increased much but now they spend less time traveling and more time with clients. Our clients aren't weirded out by fact they are talking to a tv and camera because the cameras are very high quality and that allows both sides to pick up on facial queues which goes along way for trust and understanding. Most clients say they are extremely happy that they can see their doctor and get the help they need.
The system was paid for, and is maintained, communication lines and all, with federal grants. I am amazed at how much we save just on the T1 lines alone which comes close to 100K a year.
This is something that the government got right, finally.
I'm sure that's exactly what the new broadband network is for. You know, 'cuz that makes so much sense. WTFoftheWTFs?!?!?!???!!!1
>When we setup our telemedicine system we significantly reduced our costs.
If it significantly reduces costs, why do you have to take the money from taxpayers to implement it? Won't the firms that recognize and best utilize it reap the benefits without taking from taxpayers? Won't their golf buddies hear about it and try it in their offices too?
I've personally, in the last 10 years, seen the state of Florida spend millions on telemedicine (buying equipment, setting up nodes, maintaining lines, etc.), but it was for the child abuse investigators/docs to get specialist consultations more readily. Identifying child abuse isn't really a profit industry, and if the investigator in Gulf Breeze can consult with a doc in Jacksonville without anyone having to travel it is helpful.
I have worked in multiple places with one thing in common: Gawdawful ridiculously expensive video conference systems. We are a bunch of engineers and we cannot get the fscking things to work, so how would a bunch of doctors manage with it?
In contrast, the cheap/free Skype works without any issues.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
There is no logic to your statement and it has nothing to do with OP's claim that the Government does not solve problems and it does award grant money based on political connections.
Back in the 90's, I talked to the people who were setting this system up between Russia and the US. It was a NASA project using the TDRS satellites. The guys that I talked to had RED passports (diplomatic immunity?).
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
Outsourcing Radiology overseas is already happening:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6621014/
"The Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) is one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world. Using two-way videoconferencing, OTN provides access to care for patients in every hospital and hundreds of other health care locations across the province. In addition to clinical care, we facilitate the delivery of distance education and meetings for health care professionals and patients."
http://www.otn.ca/
The Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) is one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world. Using two-way videoconferencing, OTN provides access to care for patients in every hospital and hundreds of other health care locations across the province. In addition to clinical care, we facilitate the delivery of distance education and meetings for health care professionals and patients. http://www.otn.ca/