Why rural America needs telehealth
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DownloadTime is brain. This is a phrase
physicians use when talking about a
stroke. Because for every minute that
passes, an estimated 14 billion
synapses, the building blocks that are
responsible for brain functions like
learning, memory, and behavior, are
lost. It means the longer it takes for a
person to access care, the worse the
outcome can be. In rural America, local
hospitals are less likely to have
specialists on staff. And because of
that, stroke patients in rural areas are
more likely to die than stroke patients
in urban settings. But we have the
technology to change these outcomes.
It's called Telstroke, a form of
tellahalth that allows a stroke
specialist from anywhere to dial in,
assess a patient, read brain scans, and
quickly prescribe life-saving drugs or
recommend a transfer. Studies have found
that it's effective at reducing
mortality in rural stroke patients. The
trouble is, tellahalth services like
this are frequently underfunded,
undervalued, and underutilized. But when
tellah health is used correctly,
proponents say it stands a chance at
radically altering rural healthcare for
the better. But how effective can
virtual care really be and what's
standing in its way?
[Music]
This is another video we're doing about
how emergency help gets to remote
places. Rural areas in the US often
struggle to get the same services as
more populated regions. And we wanted to
explore what some of those challenges
look like and what might be done to make
things better. And thanks to our
sponsor, T-Mobile for supporting this
video. T-Mobile is now the best mobile
network in the US according to the UK
Speed Test and continues to be committed
to supporting first responders and their
families with exclusive savings. You can
find out more at the link below.
T-Mobile didn't dictate the content of
this video, but their support did make
our reporting possible. Now, back to the
video.
Tella health is less of a singular thing
and more of a tool kit. Let me explain.
Most people think it looks like this
with a doctor and that is one type. It's
called interactive tele medicine. It
includes the obvious things like phone
calls or video calls. But there are two
other versions of tellahalth that have
been in use for decades. Remote
monitoring allows physicians to monitor
patients in their everyday lives using a
medical device. It was actually first
developed by NASA during the space race
to monitor the health of astronauts.
Today, this can be as simple as a blood
pressure cuff equipped with Bluetooth to
send real-time information to a
physician. There's also store and
forward tele medicine. This is when a
patient might be evaluated by a nurse or
doctor in one location and then that
information is sent off to a specialist
in another location. This first came
about in the 40s with the development of
terraiology. The tech was extremely
limited at the time. Radiographic images
were sent via telephone lines. As you
can imagine, it took a while. Today,
it's as simple as uploading a file like
an X-ray, CT scan, or MRI.
>> So many different models of tele
medicine, but all with the same goal,
connecting providers and patients when
they're not in the same room. The
desire, or really need for this kind of
care spans decades. This article from
the Lancet recounts a story from 1879. A
concerned mother phoned her family
doctor in the middle of the night,
convinced that her baby had CRO, a
respiratory infection with a distinct
cough. The doctor was able to listen to
the phone and declared that wasn't the
case. But more recently, we saw a
massive uptick in the widespread use of
tellahalth. Starting here, March 2020,
at the start of the co 19 pandemic,
policymakers loosened restrictions on
tellahalth. Before the pandemic,
physicians had to get lensure in
different states in order to treat
patients even through tele medicine and
that was lifted during the pandemic.
They also expanded how it was covered.
Medicare would not cover tele medicine
for a patient other than in a facility
in a rural area. But by opening it up to
urban facilities um to the home, we were
able to scale massively. The pandemic is
over, but there's still a healthcare
crisis in rural America, and tellahalth
could play a huge role in closing those
gaps. Here's how. There are a few key
challenges for rural healthcare in the
United States. We'll narrow it down to
three. One is the distance a patient has
to travel for care. Analysis from the
Pew Research Center found that on
average, rural Americans have to travel
about twice as far to a hospital
compared to those in urban or suburban
areas.
>> These hospitals are serving several
thousand square miles. So, you know,
people might have to drive a good amount
in order to get there and that's just
not always possible.
>> Now, hospitals in rural areas are often
the only healthcare. So, when we're
talking about distance to a hospital,
we're not just talking about emergency
services. It's often primary care and
lab services and even pharmaceuticals.
>> People tend to avoid care. They tend to
not go when they need to and that just
exacerbates the issues. Tellah health
could mitigate this especially in
non-emergency situations. For example,
if a patient needs an operation, they
would typically have to make multiple
trips.
>> Prior to tele medicine, they would have
to drive to the pre-op center to get
their screenings before anesthesia and
then go back home and then come back for
their surgical procedure. Now, we can
accomplish that virtually.
>> A lot of post-top physical therapy could
also be handled virtually to save the
patient time and money. The second
problem for rural healthcare is
workforce shortages. It's harder for
rural areas to recruit doctors, nurses,
and especially full-time specialists.
>> We can um mitigate some of those
workforce shortages by using video
visits, connecting the hospital with the
tertiary or quatinary care hospital.
>> Some rural areas have specialists that
come in as little as twice a month. But
with teleaalth,
>> their patients can still have access to
that specialist um and have that
relationship with that specialist.
>> Finally, the third main problem for
rural healthcare is money. Smalltown
hospitals have very thin margins. Many
of them operate just above or even in
the red. Tellahalth helps keep patients
in local facilities which keeps the
money there. Telstroke, for example, has
been found to reduce hospital transfers
up to 50 or even 60% in some areas. A
specialist provides a treatment plan
from another location and the on-site
staff can carry that out. Basically, it
gives those local facilities more
options to keep revenue in house, which
of course is good for the patient as
well. As time goes on, tellahalth
devices are getting better and less
expensive, making it more accessible for
lower inome communities. When done
right,
>> the ability to do tellahalth has really
brought healthcare to a ton more people,
has helped them really identify issues
earlier and treat them earlier. So,
they're finding healthier communities as
well.
>> But there are some major caveats here.
We need to do a better job of educating
because not everyone in rural America
understands technology,
>> which means setting up things like
digital navigation training for
patients. Ruben and her team are also
Key Vocabulary (50)
toward
"Go to school."
belonging
"Cup of tea."
also
"You and me."
inside
"In the house."
specific
"That book."
A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an object, animal, or situation that has already been mentioned or is clear from context. It is also frequently used as a dummy subject to talk about time, weather, or distance.
Used to show who is intended to have or use something, or to explain the purpose or reason for an action. It is also frequently used to indicate a specific duration of time.
A function word used to express negation or denial. It is primarily used to make a sentence or phrase negative, often following an auxiliary verb or the verb 'to be'.
A preposition used to indicate that something is in a position above and supported by a surface. It is also used to indicate a specific day or date, or to show that a device is functioning.
A preposition used to indicate that people or things are together, in the same place, or performing an action together. It can also describe the instrument used to perform an action or a characteristic that someone or something has.
A conjunction used to compare two things that are equal in some way. It is most commonly used in the pattern 'as + adjective/adverb + as' to show similarity.
A preposition used to indicate a specific point, location, or position in space. It is also used to specify a particular point in time or a certain state or activity.
Used to identify a specific person, thing, or idea that is physically close to the speaker or has just been mentioned. It can also refer to the present time or a situation that is currently happening.
A coordinating conjunction used to connect two statements that contrast with each other. It is used to introduce an added statement that is different from what has already been mentioned.
Used to indicate the starting point, source, or origin of something. It can describe a physical location, a point in time, or the person who sent or gave an item.
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Description
Rural health care is in crisis. Telehealth can help. Rural health care has been in crisis mode for decades due to a wide range of issues from distance to care to provider shortages and budget...
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