Telehealth Saved My Life. Here’s How to Make It Even Better
Giving healthcare professionals the ability to help patients remotely can be a game-changer, from emergencies to rehab. But it requires a vision and a plan.
By Craig Settles
When I had a stroke five years ago at 10:20 on a Saturday night, telehealth saved my life. At the time, only 3% to 5% of people in the United States were able to get the “clot-busting” drug called tPA in time to avoid brain damage.
Fortunately, I lived in Alameda, California, just five minutes from Alameda Hospital. But in many parts of the country people are two and three hours from the nearest hospital. I could have died before I got treatment elsewhere.
Even though COVID-19 has made telehealth popular for enabling people to visit doctors while avoiding germ-laden waiting rooms, quite a few consumers aren’t aware of the full range of telehealth or the technology’s potential benefits. It takes a little time to understand its virtues and values. But understand this: Without broadband, there’s no telehealth.
Telehealth is the full-on digitization of healthcare by using internet access and intranets to facilitate the entire continuum of care to prevent, treat, and ideally…
