VCH Medical Brigade's Upcoming Telehealth Pilot
Under the guidance of volunteer Dr. Dean Smith, the VHC Medical Brigade is embarking on its first telehealth pilot for cataract surgeries on our upcoming November 6-10 Surgical Brigade trip to Honduras. Its usefulness will be examined in a use case for cataract surgery. The Brigade team sees the advantage for continuity of care, assessing outcomes, and assuring safe practices by having the same surgeons who performed the cataract removal, also do the one-week assessment aided by our Honduran counterparts.
Specifically, we'll be utilizing our partner Globalmed's telehealth ophthalmological screening capabilities to evaluate patients' suitability for cataract surgery by assessing pre-op vision, grading the cataract, and assessing retinal health and general health. This initiative also will enable virtual follow-up on cataract surgeries using Snellen charts to assess post-op vision and eye visualization to assess for infection or increased pressures, improving the safety and efficacy of our work in Honduras, even after we have returned home to the states!
The ability to determine whether we can provide telehealth remotely safely and whether there is the right bandwidth for connections are important to our continued success. If successful, the possibilities could expand in areas such as education of our remote village team and our emergency department training initiative. It could help us to evaluate patients prior to our trips to see what will be needed to meet the needs when we arrive. In addition, there have been times we have been unable to physically be there in Honduras for our week such as right after 9/11, the early COVID pandemic, and hurricanes. Meeting some of the needs and assessments by telehealth could greatly enhance our ability to meet our obligations in serving the people of Honduras and establishing sustainable best practices.
If our efforts are deemed successful, it opens many new possibilities of fulfilling our mission of improving the health of the population of Honduras and paves the way for a new chapter for the Brigade.
The GlobalMed® Transportable Exam Station (TES) brings a new dimension to providing telemedicine to the patient in austere environments.
TES is a fully mobile telemedicine platform with a built in military-grade ruggedized tablet with readable glove capable Gorilla Glass for video conferencing in any condition. Network connectivity is achieved using a Cradlepoint connection for 3G/4G/LTE or built in WiFi.
The Horus Digital Scope System is the latest adaptation in video peripheral medical devices. Designed specifically for telemedicine, it is an easy-to-use hand-held video system for capturing images of the body. This system utilizes interchangeable attachments making it ideal for multi-discipline medical applications.