Telemedicine Guidance

In chatting with people this week at EVAW, one of the issues that came up several times was the use of telemedicine (or telehealth as some people label it) to enhance forensic clinical practice. Many programs are contemplating using this technology as a way to implement a quality assurance process using more experienced clinicians or to help new clinicians obtain confidence with the clinical exam through remote support and guidance.

If telemedicine is something you’d like to consider, but aren’t sure where to start, the Department of Health and Human Services has an online guide (PDF).  Although not forensic specific, there’s plenty of applicable information, including a section on trauma and emergency services. This would be a great document to use as a foundation for a telemedicine grant, or as a jumping off point for beginning discussions with your agency administration or multidisciplinary team. Hot button issues like electronic medical records are also addressed in the document.