A planned expansion will make the Orlando radiology department filmless, with images available on high-resolution screens for radiologists and other medical professionals. Calif. Team members care for patients who have completed rehabilitation at the Palo Alto center by videoconferencing among their local VA facilities and patients in their homes. It's cost effective for the large geographic area. That technology notifies a pharmacist at the Nashville VA Medical Center that a prescription should be filled. The Nashville pharmacist electronically transmits the prescription information to Clarksville, where a vending machine dispenses it and a medical professional affixes the prescription label to the package.
Patients get their medications quickly.
The VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif., created an Internet web site that allows patients to request refills of prescriptions that are then mailed to the veteran. Using computer technology to simulate stressful combat conditions as therapy for Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress, the Atlanta VA Medical Center soon will adapt the approach to help manage physical pain in other veterans. These efforts have already produced significant improvements in VA health care. We believe they will do the same in all health care settings.