Curious boy hearing secret

DOT Telemedicine Backpack: Secrets Revealed

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If you’ve ever wondered just how swyMed’s DOT Telemedicine Backpack can maintain a strong, reliable internet connection in low-bandwidth environments, you’re not alone—it’s a question that has intrigued many curious minds. It does carry redundant dual-modem connections and antennas, but the secret ingredient is none other than the Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect™ software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) edge platform. As explained in a recent Network World article, this technology improves the performance of existing wireless network communications and is able to connect even when it’s far from wireless towers. Read more

Two doctors reviewing brain scans on hospital computers

Telemedicine Reimbursement, Savings, and Care—Oh, My!

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has accepted five new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to allow physicians to be reimbursed for telemedicine specialist consultations and to expand remote patient monitoring conducted via telemedicine. The telemedicine reimbursement codes were originally proposed by the American Medical Association; now approved, they took effect on Jan. 1, 2019. Read more

North Sea fishing cutter

Bringing mHealth to Alaska’s Fishermen

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Popularized by TV shows like “Deadliest Catch,” fishing in the northern Pacific and the Bering Sea has been shown to be a dangerous occupation. Even worse, traditionally there has been no access to healthcare while at sea; anyone with medical issues had to either wait until the ship returns to port or summon a costly emergency extraction by helicopter in unforgiving weather conditions. However, with the advent of telemedicine and mHealth, things are changing; as long as they can hold a good Internet connection, they have instant access to physicians who can direct those on board in giving care and support to start treatment and improve triage. Recently, Alaska Maritime Physicians (AMP) partnered with DrChrono to do just that. Read more

Butterfly iQ photo

New Handheld Telemedicine Ultrasound Will Revolutionize Mobile Healthcare

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As telemedicine brings health care beyond hospital walls, medical devices are quickly following—like the portable ultrasound. Unlike traditional ultrasound machines or even unwieldy 10-pound laptop ultrasounds, the newest handheld telemedicine ultrasound to hit the market—the Butterfly iQ—fits easily in a doctor’s pocket, carries an affordable price tag, and promises to help EMTs and physicians diagnose patients in the field and en route to the hospital. Some experts are even hailing this development as the equivalent of the introduction of smartphones or tablets in the computing world, saying that we’re only beginning to see the implications of the mobile ultrasound. Read more