How can we improve healthcare practices and access to specialists in smaller hospitals and rural areas of our country?
Recent innovations in technology have increased access to healthcare professionals for patients thousands of miles away.
More of the population is growing older, increasing the number of doctor and hospital visits each year. Virtual care through robots (“telemedicine”) is steadily becoming the answer to increase the geographic reach of doctors all over the world.
In a recent article from the American Society of Medical Engineers, a telemedicine robot is described that can interact with patients across the world. These robots have a two-way screen where doctors can see you, and you can see the doctor. With a remote control device, doctors can alter the camera views and move around the room freely. This gives doctors access to multiple rooms in one hospital. Additionally, each device contains tools used to find the patient's heart rate, hear the patient's lungs, etc.
According to The Daily Telegraph, medical technology is allowing safer, 24 hour support to patients. By creating software to monitor patients from miles away, during daylight hours a doctor can monitor a patient across the world while they are sleeping. Additionally, this technology adds another safety net to rural patients.
As technology continues to improve, we can only imagine how healthcare will evolve to meet the ever challenging need of delivering healthcare in highly complex environments. Nobl remains committed to serving our communities and hospitals in the common quest for better healthcare delivery.
