While there are many benefits to living in rural Missouri, sometimes it can be burdensome. When one of our neighbors is sick, and in need of medical attention, too often their doctor is miles and miles away. Through telemedicine, doctors are able to exchange medical information through electronic communication methods such as phone, email or twoway video.
There are significant benefits associated with telemedicine, including increased medical access for rural communities that usually don’t have access to specialists and the most advanced technologies. Telemedicine is also an extremely cost effective form of healthcare. In 2016, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 579.
The passage of this legislation increased patients – especially those in rural areas like much of the 33rd District – access to healthcare. Telehealth allows doctors to practice remotely, through a computer or telephone connection. This increases the availability of healthcare in every corner of the state, especially in rural communities.
Missouri currently has 42 rural counties without a hospital. Approximately 30 percent of Missouri’s population resides in rural areas, but only 9 percent of Missouri’s licensed physicians practice in those areas. Rural Missourians travel twice as far for inpatient and emergency care than those living in urban areas. The workload of a primary care physician in a Missouri county without a hospital is almost three times higher than in counties with a hospital.
Mercy St. Francis in Mountain View; Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains; Southeast Health Center in Doniphan; and Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston are just several hospitals and medical centers in the 33rd District, which offer telemedicine services. Other hospitals use some form of telehealth, but service is limited. Please contact your hospital to inquire how extensive their services are.
Expanding telehealth services in Missouri is one of the most productive recommended reforms to come out of the 2013 Interim Committee on Medicaid Transformation and Reform. Increasing the availability of telehealth programs only stands to help both rural physicians and patients.