The more I learn about telemedicine, the more enthusiastic I become about this new discipline — although it really isn't new any longer. Earlier this year, I attended two exhibitions in this growing industry.
Med-e-Tel
I recently returned from Luxembourg, where I attended the Med-e-Tel Trade Fair. As the name indicates, this was an international fair showcasing many of the telemedicine programs available today. I was absolutely flabbergasted when I recognized how far telehealth has come — and more importantly, where it is going in the future.
At the Fair in Luxembourg, there were more than 60 speakers making presentations about better health services now available in Indochina, Indonesia, Africa, Bulgaria and India, to name just a few. I made friends with fascinating folks from Norway, Sweden, Russia and other ports of call. And many other countries of the world sent someone to listen, learn and share their experiences.
ATA Tampa
I was also pleased to attend the Ninth Annual American Telemedicine Association (ATA) Conference in Tampa, Fla. (Since this was the ninth meeting, you see why I say this field is no longer new.) There, a demonstration of emergency response to cataclysmic events, with physicians assisting in surgical procedures halfway around the world, was a highlight of the show. There were more than 90 exhibitors, 300 presentations and a full house of interested people who made it clear to me that telemedicine may be where the future of medical care will concentrate.
New equipment that not only provides patients' vital signs but also can delve into a multitude of tests that physicians need was on view. Face-to-face meetings between practitioners and their patients, no matter how distant they may be, is a norm today as a result of the systems currently on the market.
Many of the systems I saw offer direct communication between a patient and a caretaker such as a physician or nurse. This can save dollars for the doctor or the HHA in unnecessary visits. And the patient can communicate with the health practitioner and not have to leave his or her home.
I spoke with one physician who told me that it was not easy for him to monitor a patient outside of the immediate vicinity of his office, and that was the reason he gave for installing a telemedicine system in his practice. In our industry, patients can often be 50 to 100 miles from their caregiver.
Telehealth offers a new source of revenue for HME companies. When helping to establish a telemedicine station in a physician's office, and then installing units for all distant patients, you become part of the network. Sit down with the physicians, HHAs or visiting nurse association in your market and discuss how you can team up in a telehealth program where all parties will benefit.
If you arrange the lease program and supply the equipment, you will be in a position to maintain contact with the patient, the nurse or physician and, in most cases, become the source for ancillary business.
Telemedicine, for our industry, is already becoming a new path. What a tremendous step this is in providing care and saving mega-dollars for everyone as physicians and other health care professionals enter the field.
I suggest that all DME/HME dealers and HHA owners think about how telemedicine can work for your company, and begin to investigate how your business can benefit from this fast-expanding area.
Sheldon “Shelly” Prial is based in Melbourne, Fla., with Prial Consulting and also serves as the director of government relations for Atlanta-based Graham-Field Health Products. In 1987, he founded the Homecare Providers Co-Op, now part of The VGM Group. He can be reached by e-mail at shelly.prial@worldnet.att.net or by phone at 321/255-3885.
