The most impressive aspect of telemedicine is that
it eliminates barriers to quality care. As revealed by needs
assessments and focus groups conducted throughout rural Arkansas, transportation
is a major barrier for patients who are seeking specialized medical care. By enabling telehealth access in rural communities, patients
around the globe can seek specialized care no matter their distance from the
nearest tertiary center. Clinical distance health care is essential for
regionalization. The CDH seeks out new, technologically savvy ways to
confront growing problems in the Delta. The following are several examples
of its initiatives in clinical telehealth.
Correctional
Telehealth: The CDH is developing a correctional telehealth program
to be delivered in Arkansas' women's prisons to provide high-risk obstetrical
support for inmates. Using Level III ultrasound technology, telemedicine
can allow maternal-fetal medicine specialists at UAMS to view and consult
patients in real-time as they receive ultrasounds, thus allowing specialists
to detect complications from a distance and facilitate referrals.
Pediatrics
in Schools: Another ambitious project planned by the CDH focuses on
using telehomecare to treat and monitor childhood obesity, diabetes,
asthma, and behavioral problems among students in rural Arkansas. This
pilot project will enable school nurses in a rural county to consult
specialists through telemedicine when a child presents in the school
nurse's station. Both telemedicine and telehomecare monitoring will
be used to provide clinical support to rural Arkansas.
If you have a distance health educational idea or need, please
contact
us with your request.
University
of Arkansas for Medical Sciences / College of Medicine
Center for Distance Health
4301 West Markham Street #518 / Little Rock, AR 72205
(866) 273-3835 Toll-Free or (501) 526-7425
Correctional
Telehealth: The CDH is developing a correctional telehealth program
to be delivered in Arkansas' women's prisons to provide high-risk obstetrical
support for inmates. Using Level III ultrasound technology, telemedicine
can allow maternal-fetal medicine specialists at UAMS to view and consult
patients in real-time as they receive ultrasounds, thus allowing specialists
to detect complications from a distance and facilitate referrals.