The Power Of Telemedicine

By Neal Learner, Contributing Writer

Telehealth is no longer just a buzzword — it is fast becoming a viable treatment option and, in some cases, a savior for the patient population that it serves.

Dr. Patrick Brophy’s young kidney patient lived eight hours away in a neighboring state. Each month her parents would dutifully pack the car and hit the road for her regular checkup at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital — an arduous trek that required missing three days of work and school.

Then one day Brophy’s team had an idea. They received permission to conduct a study in which they would examine the patient at her home via Skype. Team members gathered monthly in the hospital’s dialysis unit to connect electronically with the family and discuss any issues the young lady might be having, recalls Brophy, director of the hospital’s pediatric nephrology, renal transplant, and dialysis center.