Skyping, texting and messaging are all second nature to the younger generation.
It's with this trust and comfort with technology that the Central East LHIN has taken a technological step to making sure Durham residents, especially younger ones, have access to health specialists from across Canada.
The LHIN, which covers an area from Scarborough to Northumberland, including Durham, is responsible for integrating our health-care system to ensure better health and better value for our tax dollars.
That mandate has been followed with the announcement 20 new telemedicine nurses will be hired by the LHIN, including seven in Durham Region.
Those seven will work out of various locations in Durham including Ontario Shores in Whitby.
The nurses' role in telemedicine is vital to make sure an appointment is not a waste of time for the doctor or the patient.
The nurse will evaluate the patient, make the connection with the proper doctor, and make sure it happens. For a consultation with a specialist in Vancouver, a Durham patient need only travel as far as Ontario Shores or another location close by. Gone are the days when you had to board a flight to meet with a specialist.
Where the technology will come in handy is getting younger people to meet with mental health specialists.
Deborah Hammons, CEO of the Central East LHIN, noted the younger patients are used to sitting in front of a computer screen and talking to the person on the other end.
"It is non-threatening to them," she noted and a lot less stressful than sitting in a room, talking one-on-one with an adult.
If the technology and the nurses behind it can get more young people to talk about their feelings with the aim to tackle their fears and phobias that can only be good for society as a whole.
This year alone, the Ontario Telemedicine Network is going to host 200,000 patient visits. That's a staggering number which should be applauded.
Technology has made our world smaller and hopefully, new nurses in Durham can made it a healthier place to live.
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Quelle/Source: Durham Region, 27.07.2012
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