Through experience, she developed strategies for guiding remote colleagues through evaluations. But that constraint of telemedicine has helped her hone her observation skills. She has also learned to use easily understandable functional descriptions of what she wants patients to do. She might guide the onsite nurse practitioner or another therapist through a fine motor evaluation of a child or talk the patient through an ADL assessment. While communication among clinicians improves, waiting for others to complete their assessments is not a productive use of practitioners time, she said.
Technical glitches can also decrease efficiency.
Delay in transmission or distortion of sound can make it difficult for children with auditory or language problems to understand Hersey. She compensates by providing the remote clinics with evaluation materials, such as word and picture cards, and relaying instructions to the onsite clinicians. Both Hersey and Bachmeier-Conner see a lot of potential for telemedicine, particularly in rural settings. By guiding students through the interactive video, practitioners can help expand the students learning without requiring their presence in the city. The urban therapists can also help rural clinicians who may not be as experienced with a particular diagnosis develop effective treatment plans.