The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog

When the UA Wildcats hosted Northern Arizona University at the teams’ 2013 football season opener in Tucson, a new NAU “team member” stood on the sidelines, ready to make a bit of medical history.

VGo – a four-foot-tall telemedicine robot on wheels – was standing by, ready to assist, should any injured player show signs of concussion.

Full disclosure: I’m the co-coordinator of the conference I’m about to tell you about. But—still on the full disclosure front—I’m a cynical person who doesn’t get excited easily. I’ve been going to healthcare and telehealth conferences since 2005, so I’ve become a little jaded when it comes to listening to presentations and panels.

And yet, I’m very excited about SPS 2016.

Last year showed us that telemedicine continues to be an innovative alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar health care. The number of providers offering telemedicine services notably increased, and several states enacted laws requiring health plans to cover telemedicine. Here are four key trends that will drive the continued growth of telemedicine to transform health care in 2016.

Only 10 percent of the nation's doctors work in rural areas, where 25 percent of Americans live. The Arizona Rural Health Association is looking toward university-bound Arizonans and the Arizona Telemedicine Program as two critically important solutions.

From connected refrigerators that display the latest family photos to connected buttons that instantly place an order for laundry detergent when you press them, the Internet of Things is vast and growing rapidly. Health care is not immune to this new connected fever. Health care leaders and innovators are quickly developing connected health things that offer powerful new ways to care for people.