The percent of eligible Arizona prescribers EPCS enabled is 23 percent above the national average as of February 2020. Learn what EPCS is and how it benefits both patients and providers statewide.
The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog, Category: mHealth
On January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) categorized the 2019 Novel Corona Virus COVID- 19 disease outbreak “a public health emergency, of international concern, day after day “hitting closer to home.”
But on February 28 edition of Tech Trends offered more than a glimmer of hope:
Information Technology (IT) has transformed many areas and medical care is a key area that digitalization can affect and improve. Telemedicine is the application of medical care, diagnostics, information dissemination and treatment through digital and virtual processes. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) were introduced in 1997 as part of a program that aimed to increase access to medical care in rural areas of the United States. They are typically small hospitals that are set up at least 35 miles from any other hospital and have a maximum of 25 beds. Further, they provide patients with essential medical services but to a maximum of 96 hours.
Telemedicine - otherwise known as virtual health - refers to the one-on-one consultations between patients and health professionals via video chat, phone call, or text message.
It’s the process of doctors treating patients remotely instead of face to face, using some sort of digital connection for the patient and doctor to connect for a health assessment or mental assessment in real-time. In other words, telemedicine is the answer to healthcare problems for people who work full-time, have young children, have no health insurance, or are otherwise unable to physically go and see a physician because of logistical challenges.
Arizona’s strength in rural is our many partnerships. Arizona is the 6th largest state in the U.S. by area, and over 81.8 percent of all Arizona land is state, federal or tribal controlled; there is a lot of area to cover. Plus, there is a lot of great work going on in all regions of Arizona, and we thought “let’s share this, let’s go on a “Virtual Road Trip” Via a webinar. We reached out to folks and before we knew it, 12 groups volunteered to share their vision.
And on November 21, 2019, we started our “Virtual Road Trip” in Tucson.