one presumes this is the start of a push to install the “telemedicine pods” in Rite-Aid stores throughout the country. Furnished by Healthspot, these small stations provide medical care to customers by connecting those customers to remotely located care providers. The pods are equipped with interactive medical devices. Each one is about 40 square feet and equipped to give the customer privacy while he or she is teleconferencing with a doctor who is not located in the same location. Some of the items in the pod include a stethoscope, otoscope, magnascope, and pulse oximeter, all of which provide basic data on the patient’s physiology.
The telemedicine kiosk is, according to MedCityNews’ Stephanie Baum, one of two distinct models for the delivery of remote medical and/or psychological care. The first is the web-based model, which is the one used at Arcadian Telepsychiatry. Patients use Internet connectivity and a computer workstation, tablet, or mobile device to teleconference with a remotely located care provider. This is a cost-effective, efficient method of delivering care, which allows a remotely located provider to serve multiple individuals in disparate locations without incurring travel expenses or spending the time necessary to move from place to place. It also allows individuals in remote locations, or areas where they cannot receive specialized care through more traditional means (such as in prisons) to connect with service providers.
The second model, that of the healthcare kiosk, is dominated by Healthspot and SoloHealth“HealthSpot users connect with a physician online and tend to play an active role in the exam by using one of a handful of electronic medical devices,” writes Baum. “With healthcare kiosks and many of the online models, the physician tends to be someone the patient hasn’t previously met. But the founders of these businesses take the view that access triumphs familiarity. SoloHealth has kiosks in retail sites and lets consumers in high-traffic retail locations monitor their blood pressure, central vision and weight, as well as get a health-risk assessment.”
Drugstore chain CVS, by contrast, provides nurse practitioners who supervise while patients access telemedicine services. It’s doing this mostly in rural communities that have less access to physicians. Meanwhile, retail giant Walmart is reportedly collaborating with provider Humana to bring telemedicine access to some of its stores.
As widespread acceptance of telemental health services and telemedicine services becomes the norm, rather than the exception, it will be interesting to see the ways in which improving technology and increased penetration of remote healthcare services changes our society. We are seeing the first steps in a world better connected to qualified care than ever before. Regardless of the model used, this increased, cost-effective access is a very good thing indeed.
The telemedicine kiosk is, according to MedCityNews’ Stephanie Baum, one of two distinct models for the delivery of remote medical and/or psychological care. The first is the web-based model, which is the one used at Arcadian Telepsychiatry. Patients use Internet connectivity and a computer workstation, tablet, or mobile device to teleconference with a remotely located care provider. This is a cost-effective, efficient method of delivering care, which allows a remotely located provider to serve multiple individuals in disparate locations without incurring travel expenses or spending the time necessary to move from place to place. It also allows individuals in remote locations, or areas where they cannot receive specialized care through more traditional means (such as in prisons) to connect with service providers.
The second model, that of the healthcare kiosk, is dominated by Healthspot and SoloHealth“HealthSpot users connect with a physician online and tend to play an active role in the exam by using one of a handful of electronic medical devices,” writes Baum. “With healthcare kiosks and many of the online models, the physician tends to be someone the patient hasn’t previously met. But the founders of these businesses take the view that access triumphs familiarity. SoloHealth has kiosks in retail sites and lets consumers in high-traffic retail locations monitor their blood pressure, central vision and weight, as well as get a health-risk assessment.”
Drugstore chain CVS, by contrast, provides nurse practitioners who supervise while patients access telemedicine services. It’s doing this mostly in rural communities that have less access to physicians. Meanwhile, retail giant Walmart is reportedly collaborating with provider Humana to bring telemedicine access to some of its stores.
As widespread acceptance of telemental health services and telemedicine services becomes the norm, rather than the exception, it will be interesting to see the ways in which improving technology and increased penetration of remote healthcare services changes our society. We are seeing the first steps in a world better connected to qualified care than ever before. Regardless of the model used, this increased, cost-effective access is a very good thing indeed.
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