Once you have the equipment in place, it's extremely cost-effective. Prisons are required to provide health care to inmates, so doctors don't have to twist any arms to get their expenses reimbursed. It's considered cruel and unusual punishment if it's not provided. There is no shortage of medical problems in the nation's prisons. Inmates are more likely than the general population to be afflicted with hepatitis, H.I.V., communicable diseases, and chronic conditions like diabetes.
Many prisoners also have a history of inadequate health care.
They're also prime candidates for psychiatric care, and for telemedicine programs aimed at curbing smoking or alcohol abuse. Despite the advances in telemedicine, and the opportunities provided by prisons, many medical faculty members remain leery of treating patients from a distance. Julia Nunley, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, is one of those skeptics. When I check a lesion, I need to know the color clarity and whether it's palpable or flat. I can't touch or feel a lesion in telemedicine.