Telehealth visits surge

#Middlebury #Veterans

In 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs increased the use of TeleHealth medical visits by 19 percent, bringing the total to over 1 million. If you have an opportunity to use Telehealth, do.

Half of the veterans who use TeleHealth live in rural areas, far from any facility, or are unable to travel. Using a computer or mobile device, medical problems such as PTSD, diabetes and chronic heart failure can be monitored from the comfort of your home. A care coordinator takes charge of the details, working with the care providers to change treatment, set up clinic appointments and more.

Half of the TeleHealth visits don’t involve a specific appointment. Instead, staff monitors, screens and assesses the data sent in by the veteran or another VA facility, taking vitals or sending images that are stored until staff examines them.

Telehealth lets you to talk to specialists who might be 1,000 miles away for any of 50 different medical categories, making contact from a nearby clinic through Clinical Video TeleHealth. TeleMental health, TeleRehab, TeleSurgery (consultation and diagnosis, not the actual surgery) and over a dozen other medical categories are available from the nearest clinic, even if the clinic itself cannot provide those levels of care. You’ll have medical staff there should you have questions or need help.

To learn more about TeleHealth, go online to www.telehealth.va.gov or www.ruralhealth.va.gov.

To learn more about the app that makes all this possible, download the VA Video Connect app from mobile.va.gov/app/va-video-connect. It works with Android, iOS and Windows, and you’ll need Internet access and a web camera. There’s a test link to ensure your device is compatible.

One big stumbling block has been removed by a new federal rule: the legality of an out-of-state physician consulting with a veteran in another state. Veterans can now contact specialists no matter where they are.

© 2019 King Features Synd. Inc.