Telemedicine provides cheaper, faster and more personalized pediatric care

Twenty eight percent of emergency pediatric visits analyzed in a recent study could have been handled by telemedicine, according to Health-e-Access, a Rochester-based telemedicine program. There are a number of benefits to telemedicine, not in the least that emergency visits cost about seven times the cost of a telemedicine visit. Telemedicine is only feasible, however, if both the doctor and the patient have access to high speed Internet.
 
According to Kenneth McConnochie, M.D., M.P.H., the study's lead investigator:

"This would've not only freed up emergency resources to people who needed them more -- it would have afforded smaller co-pays for parents and more timely, personalized care."

The study was conducted in Rochester, and analyzed all pediatric visits, more than 22,000 of them, to the largest emergency department in the city in 2006. The visits were coded into three categories:

- Ailments that virtually always prove manageable by telemedicine, such as ear infections or sore throats;
 
- Problems that are usually treatable through telemedicine, but not always, such as asthma attacks; and
 
- Conditions that were usually beyond the scope of the technology.

Had telemedicine been available to these patients, there would have been at least 12,000 fewer emergency visits that year, since nearly 28 percent of emergency visits fell into that first category.
 
According to McConnochie, the availability of telemedicine, dependent on high speed Internet access, will serve the interests of both insurers and patients: better care at a lower price. 

More Than 25 Percent Of Pediatric 'Emergency' Visits Could Be Conducted Online, Study Suggests (Science Daily)
 
Health Care (Speed Matters)