Abstract
An inmate in a Texas prison injures his knee. The onsite primary care physician suspects that surgery will be required. In the past, such a diagnosis almost always meant transporting a prisoner—under armed guard—easily hundreds of miles roundtrip to see a specialist for consultation. Today, thanks to advances in telemedicine, that consultation takes place within prison walls. “In many cases like this, we’ve seen an orthopedic specialist prescribe physical therapy or exercise that avoids the need for surgery altogether,” says Don McBeath, director of telemedicine and rural health at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Lubbock. Texas Tech is one of two university-affiliated groups responsible for providing health care to the state’s prison population. With more than 200,000 inmates in more than 100 facilities spread across 267,000 square miles, the state of Texas has turned increasingly to telemedicine to contain costs, maintain security, and provide timely health care to its correctional patients. “We do about 2,500 correctional consults a year,” explains McBeath. “In about 50% of the cases where a telemedicine consult occurs, the inmate is never transferred outside the prison for additional care. In other words, via telemedicine, the outside specialist is able to direct the onsite caregiver to deliver whatever health care services are necessary.”
Published Version
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