Telemedicine is taking root – patients and doctors are embracing new technology to increase accessibility, save time and cut costs all while reimbursement for telemedicine appointments is becoming increasingly important providers and state legislatures. As telemedicine progresses, we’re seeing the face-to-face interactions between doctors and patients, move beyond the traditional definition of video conferencing.

 

HealthSpot-Kiosk

In telemedicine, doctors and patients can have even more efficient, valuable consultations with the addition of easy-to-use medical devices that gather, send and analyze data in real time to the physician. Leveraging the VidyoWorksTM platform, HealthSpot virtual healthcare kiosks do just this by connecting patients to providers in retail clinics and pharmacies. HealthSpot kiosks come outfitted with integrated tools such as blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, stethoscopes and otoscopes to give the physician on the other side of the screen a better understanding of what is ailing a patient. Once a diagnosis is given, the physician can send the prescription to the pharmacy (where the kiosk is located, convenient for patients).

Recently HealthSpot, Mayo Clinic and Austin Public Schools in Southeast Minnesota entered a pilot program, bringing a HealthSpot kiosk to the area. Prior to the pilot, residents in the Austin area could spend hours travelling to see a doctor. See a video of the kiosk in use in Minnesota here.

“This allows technology and innovation in medicine where the medicine can come to us in rural Minnesota, so people don’t have to take a whole day off of work to travel to Rochester or the Twin Cities or just go to their doctor. They can do it right here, and right where they are,” said Representative Peggy Bennett.*

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Representative Peggy Bennett gets her blood pressure tested at a HealthSpot kiosk in Austin

Minnesota passed legislation requiring private insurance companies to reimburse providers for telemedicine services, but a gap for Medicare patients remains. Learn more about the Minnesota program here.

Vidyo is also used by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, to provide Alaska’s most remote residents access to on-demand, high quality and affordable care over any Internet connection, dramatically changing the delivery of care in rural Alaska.

More than 40 of the top 100 Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs), such as Partners Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente®, United Health and Anthem Blue Cross, use the VidyoWorks platform to power integrated telemedicine solutions. Vidyo technology is also integrated with top global EHR management systems including Epic, Cerner and EMIS to embed video communication into existing EHR workflows.

*Source: KTTC “Telemedicine: Healthcare of the Future?” 

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