Abstract
The need for memory specialists is increasing as the incidence of dementia rapidly rises across the globe. In rural areas, demand for these specialists far outstrips supply. It is increasingly difficulty for patients to receive care in a timely manner. In this paper, we document our experience using videoconference telemedicine to bring a multidisciplinary model of care to a rural retirement community in Southern California. To our knowledge, we are one of the first to integrate telemedicine into dementia care on this large a scale. Given the relatively remote location, patients and neurologists have previously had to travel great distances and bear with long wait times. With neurological consultation by telemedicine and a local team consisting of a geriatrician, a neuropsychologist, and a case manager, we have been able to provide comprehensive dementia care in this underserved area, comparable to university-affiliated California Alzheimer’s Disease Centers, typically found only in major metropolitan areas. We have shown that telemedicine can be very effective in improving access and quality of dementia care.
Highlights
Telemedicine, the use of telecommunication and information technology in clinical evaluation and treatment, has existed in various forms for over 100 years
This paper summarizes the current state of telemedicine in dementia care and documents our experience in using telemedicine to bring a multidisciplinary model of care to the Coachella Valley, a retirement community in Southern California
The professional fee for the telemedicine session is billed by the behavioral neurologist at University of Southern California (USC), and technical fee is billed by EMC
Summary
Telemedicine, the use of telecommunication and information technology in clinical evaluation and treatment, has existed in various forms for over 100 years. Many medical specialties have explored the use of telemedicine in direct patient care, as a tool to improve access and efficiency. This trend is fueled by Medicare’s decision in 1996 to allow billing for “care by telemedicine” [3]. Psychiatrists were among the first to widely adopt video-based telemedicine by initially capturing video to send to providers in what is known as “store-and forward” telemedicine [2] This advanced to include real-time video interaction, being used by various medical specialties to provide care to underserved populations [4,5,6]. This paper summarizes the current state of telemedicine in dementia care and documents our experience in using telemedicine to bring a multidisciplinary model of care to the Coachella Valley, a retirement community in Southern California
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