Save money, save lives with telemedicine

The case for increased use of telemedicine just keeps getting stronger.

Speed Matters has already noted the benefits of this technology for smaller hospitals, larger hospitals, rural communities, and sick children. Now a new study illustrates telemedicine's huge cost-saving potential.

"The Telehealth Promise: Better Health Care and Cost Savings for the 21st Century" found that the use of telemedicine could save our nation's health care system more than $4 billion annually -- just from the reduction of unnecessary patient transfers. With telemedicine and high speed Internet, patients can be examined and tested remotely, in lieu of costly transports back and forth between their homes, hospitals, nursing homes, and specialists' offices.

What's more, that $4 billion figure barely scratches the surface. As the report notes, those projections "do not consider remote monitoring, interpretative services such as teleradiology, or other telehealth approaches that save money by identifying and treating emerging medical issues sooner."

The study's author, Alexander Vo of the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that in addition to cost savings, telemedicine can improve care for many patients:

"UTMB believes that the integration of telehealth into the American health care system can offer unparalleled access to high quality care to every citizen no matter where they live," Vo said. "The combination of sophisticated video conferencing, electronic medical records, proven disease management protocols and monitoring can revolutionize medical care. UTMB has seen it work. Now, the rest of America should experience it as well."

Of course, in order for the rest of America to take advantage of this important technology, they need access to high speed Internet connections. Indeed, one of the study's policy recommendations is the encouragement of universal high speed Internet adoption. Once that is achieved, all Americans will be able to enjoy better care and lower costs thanks to telemedicine.

Telemedicine helps save time and lives in smaller hospitals (Speed Matters)

Telemedicine provides cheaper, faster and more personalized pediatric care (Speed Matters)

Telemedicine: At Work Today, in Georgia (Speed Matters)

Videoconferencing teams up experts to help children with cancer (Speed Matters)

"The Telehealth Promise, Better Health Care and Cost Savings for the 21st Century" (University of Texas Medical Branch)

Lawmakers, health care leaders to hear about UTMB's success with telemedicine initiatives (UTMB Newsroom)