That is, in order for us to get all of the relevant information about a child's problem, the participants need to be well organized so they can ask coherent questions. Sometimes in the past this had not been the case. With telemedicine all the specialists are there together, forcing them to use the time wisely. The health care community is seeing a benefit, too, in that this approach works against the tendency of rural providers to work in isolation. Through telemedicine, these practitioners come together, interact and compare notes.
Any child requiring the care of a specialist can benefit from using interactive video.
Diagnosing cerebral palsy, for example, is something that a local community-based physician may be asked to do twice a year, where it's something we do twice a week, or oftener. There are few people in the state who understand how to approach those issues, yet David and his colleagues see literally hundreds of them per year. Using this medium is more efficient, but we're not sure yet how much time and resources it can save. Our interactions using this system suggest that both sides are comfortable with the process that we've used. And the response has been uniformly positive.