For people in rural Southeastern Minnesota, it can take hours to travel to see a doctor. For those working, taking off work for medical attention can be out of the question. To make health care a little more accessible for these folks, Mayo Clinic is in the middle of a pilot period for telemedicine.
For many who aren’t sure what telemedicine is, it is a little kiosk-type vessel, that allows patients to meet with a care provider face-to-face, without driving hours for care.
Wednesday afternoon Representative Peggy Bennett got a taste of how it works and how it can benefit people in Southeast Minnesota.
“This allows technology and innovation in medicine where the medicine can come to us in rural Minnesota, so people don’t have to take a whole day off of work to travel to Rochester or the Twin Cities or just go to their doctor. They can do it right here, and right where they are,” said Bennett.
A pilot program between Mayo Clinic and Austin Public Schools is testing the waters of the medical innovation for Southeast Minnesota, if all goes well, the program will no longer be a pilot but official on January 1.
“We have this one here, we have one in Ellis, and one in our clinic,” said Dr. Mark Ciota, an orthopedic surgeon at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Ciota said the next location on deck for telemedicine vessels is Albert Lea, Representative Peggy Bennett’s hometown.
“I am amazed by this. I think it’s wonderful. Of course, I love technology and was involved in technology at our schools a lot. I think it just provides so many more choices and access for people, especially in rural Minnesota ,” said Bennett of telemedicine.
For the provider, it’s almost as good as seeing a patient in the flesh.
“One of the best features on the provider side is hearing the heart and lung sounds with our stethoscope. It’s almost as clear as having the patient right in front of you with a real stethoscope,” said Sheryl Ellingson, who was Bennett’s “care provider” on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s tour of the telemedicine kiosk ties in with some happenings in legislature.
During the 2015 session, Minnesota passed legislation requiring private insurance companies to reimburse providers for telemedicine services, but a gap for Medicare patients remains.
Representative Bennett is one of a handful of rural Minnesota legislators who will be sending a letter to Congress this Friday, asking to have costs of telemedicine services reimbursed for Medicare recipients.
“We’re asking our congressional delegates, nationwide, to provide access for Medicare patients so that they have coverage, too. Which would do two things: one, it would open it up for our seniors in Minnesota to have these same options. And, it would also encourage innovation and lower prices, when it goes nationwide like that. So, it would do two things,” said Bennett.
Date: August 5, 2015