Since 2005, specialty infectious disease tele-consultations have been provided through Army Knowledge Online. troops dispersed throughout regions of the world. Human contact is minimized and frontline workers are protected.įor the last decade, telemedicine has been vital to the care of U.S. Telemedicine can be tremendously useful in protecting healthcare workers from the deadly disease by allowing patients to be examined, interviewed and monitored remotely. Healthcare workers are in a high-risk situation with Ebola, especially when exposed to patients in the later stages of the disease when the virus is highly concentrated within the body. Here at home, two nurses were infected after treating a patient. In Sierra Leone alone, 320 health workers who have treated Ebola patients have died of the disease. News outlets have been chronicling the heroics of healthcare workers across the globe who are helping Ebola patients.
Our existing rules and regulations around telemedicine are one such example.
public health system’s response to Ebola this week, we need to take a look at laws and regulations that inhibit better treatment and increase protection for healthcare workers.
