FCC Chairman Ajit Pai saw telemedicine being applied in the real world at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Lecanto, FL. It was part of his swing through the Gulf Coast last week, and included stops in New Orleans, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
The Lecanto clinic, located in rural Citrus County Florida, sees more than 8,000 veterans annually. The adoption and expansion of telehealth technology has broadened the scope of services available to patients who have a hard time traveling to larger Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities, according to the VA news release.
Pai said the Lecanto visit helped him understand the successes that come by marrying telehealth technology to broadband access as well as the delivery challenges — so he can more easily convey to the public, government and industry the value of commitment to invest more heavily in rural areas. “The Lecanto Veterans Affairs clinic is using the internet and innovative ways to improve the lives of veterans in North Florida,” Pai said. “That is of course important for the communities in North Florida but it is also critical in informing the efforts of the FCC. One of the reasons why closing the digital divide is our top priority is because we recognize that communities on the wrong side of the divide, particularly rural communities, will not be able to be as healthy and strong as they should be.”
While on the visit, Pai and Deborah Scher, executive advisor to the Secretary of Veterans affairs, gained a sense of what an electronic encounter is like in real-time. Lotti Morse and Christina Jewell, telehealth clinical technicians assigned to Lecanto, walked them through the set-up process. They also noted the technology’s shortcomings if veterans do not have good cell service; the screen may become pixelated or the call may be dropped.
“The VA is leading the country in telehealth, having delivered over 800,000 telehealth visits to more than 336,000 veterans in the past year,” Scher noted. She called Lecanto’s telehealth program “a stellar example” of the VA providing patients in rural areas with faster access to care by connecting veterans to specialist physicians regardless of location in a setup that is more convenient for veterans and their families.”
Telehealth means the Lecanto team can expand the services provided to Veterans — offering access to 27 medical specialties as well as physical therapy, art, dance and music therapy. The Lecanto facility facilitated more than 1,500 telehealth encounters in the last year.
May 8, 2018
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