Telemedicine: Computer Networked Service Delivery Assists in Rural Areas

I shared a post few months ago on telepractice and how rising fuel costs were having an impact on service delivery to learners with disabilities in outlying communities. I suggested an answer might be found in using a computer network and the Internet to do "Teleservice" for speech pathology and other service deliveries. In assistive technology, many consult activities could be done via this medium. I came across an article to share with you that supports this model through telemedicine, the spreading practice of using a computer network to conduct long- distance exams and transfer medical information.
The article is: "Use of Telemedicine Expanding in Ohio's Rural Areas, Appalachia".
In the article, they are applying advanced medical applications to an Internet network to use a stethescope, do ultrasound viewing, etc. One example is described below:
"Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron is using telemedicine to connect special-needs children at two schools in rural areas of Ashland and Wayne counties to their family doctors if the children get sick at school. The system features video conferencing, electronic stethoscopes and the capability to transmit photos of symptoms."
Although the service lacks personalization and human interaction, it demonstrates that there is an alternative method to delivering support. Folks I have visited with or articles I have read, recommend personal visits for initial services and evaluations from time to time, with networked consultation in-between to save on expense.
It will be interesting to see where this heads - even as fuel prices continue to climb over the next few months. What do you think of using these types of services where practical, in the delivery of assistive technology? Let us hear from you pros or cons...

All the best to you!
Lon

Rising Fuel Cost Solution found in Telepractice and Remote Service Delivery for Regional Services

"We are using new Macs and ichat to share the desktop with some of our long-distant students remotely to do speech services." an AT specialist shared at the advisory board meeting for OTAP. "We are working with a speech pathologist in Bellingham, WA that is working with several students this way. He even has some friends that are in Kenya that have a child he works with to help with stuttering."

This was one of several great topics of discussion at our state advisory meeting for OTAP (Oregon Technology Access Program) yesterday. I was surprised to hear of more remote service access solutions that were being used for long distance services. Since many of us at the meeting represented assistive technology support specialists that cover wide territories, the discussion came up about fuel costs and how we can manage the budget and provided services.

There are some hardware and set up tasks that can't be done remotely. In those cases, the travel is still an essential. Remote "telepractice" sessions were suggested as a cost-saver for situations where specialists would have to travel several hours twice a month to contact students, and the content works well to transfer online. Face to face contact would still happen, but not on every visit.

The discussion moved to the trend of Charter schools that are online schools. One specialist that has a high school daughter who because of illness is in a distance ed program online at home, shared that she is getting more support from the way the program is outlined, online support, email, e text, etc. Books and E text CD's are shipped to the home ahead of time. The drawback is that the student has to be motivated to work on their own.

It is evident that soaring gas costs will continue to have an effect on the discussion of services, how much travel is reimbursed to specialists. That translates to a changing look in how students receive special services.

A study was shared that evaluated telepractice services to two groups, adult stroke victims receiving OT and children in school receiving speech. Customer satisfaction in general was high, with a positive indication that goals were met successfully. The one criticism was in the speech service delivery. Families missed the one-on-one contact and felt it had a negative effect on the medium for delivery.

The consideration of these options are not going to go away. How service delivery adapts and how it impacts everyone is yet to be seen.

All the best to you!

Lon