Here’s a great video story from last year about a telerehabilitation program going on in Little Rock Arkansas. This hospital has implemented a simple two-way video chat into a patient’s home. Here are the highlights:
- patient suffered a broken hip as the result of a fall
- audio/video link from a hospital into a patient’s home
- both physical and occupational therapists are interacting with the patient over the link
- the patient is very happy with the service
- the clinic administrators see tremendous potential for at-home rehab to be far more convenient for patients and financially competitive for hospitals
- other devices can be hooked up to the computer to be used with a telerehab system (our ReJoyce Telerehabilitation System is a great example)
Arkansas is one of a number states that leaves decisions regarding reimbursement of telemedicine programs, including telerehabilitation, up to the state Medicaid director. Take a look at this 2004 study regarding Medicaid telerehabilitation reimbursement throughout the United States.