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–ABC News4

“There has been one flu related death in the Lowcountry, seven in the Midlands, three Upstate, and four in Pee Dee this week according to DHEC.

In addition, Charleston County alone has had more than 300 flu cases reported in the last week and in Greenville County, almost a thousand cases were reported according to DHEC.

Due to the Lowcountry experiencing higher than usual flu cases that has resulted in 15 flu related deaths in South Carolina, MUSC Health has now implemented flu clinics and telehealth services to patients already ill from the flu.”

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–Fierce Healthcare

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in favor of repealing net neutrality regulations, an expected outcome that prompted renewed concern from some about the impact on telehealth and remote monitoring.

-The Post and Courier

The Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center recently won an award in Nashville, Tennessee, for its work in the “telehealth” field. 

According to a press release about the recognition, in 2016, the center partnered with the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston County EMS and the S.C. Telehealth Alliance to offer patients “on-site emergency mental health assessments in real-time.”

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-mHealth Intelligence

“The Medical University of South Carolina has been named a Telehealth Center of Excellence, and given a three-year federal grant to become a model for telehealth and telemedicine programs across the country.

The Health and Human Services Department’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the designation on Oct. 3, along with a $600,000-a-year grant to help MUSC develop its program, which now serves some 200 sites across the state.”

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–Fierce Healthcare

“After telehealth providers offered up free services to victims of Hurricane Harvey last week, the telehealth community is replicating the same approach as Hurricane Irma churns through Florida.

–Medscape

President Trump today announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will soon roll out a new virtual visit service called VA Video Connect along with a new smartphone app for appointment scheduling. VA Video Connect will allow any VA physician to conduct a telehealth visit with any veteran anywhere in the country, either on a mobile device or on a computer.

“This will significantly expand access to care to our veterans, especially for those who need help in the area of mental health, which is a bigger and bigger request, and also in suicide prevention,” Trump said in a press conference at VA headquarters. “It will make a tremendous difference for the veterans in rural locations in particular.”

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-MUSC News Room-Mickie Hayes

“Seconds matter. When a critically ill or injured child or patient suffering an ischemic stroke is rushed to an emergency room for care, time is of the essence.

And while emergency room personnel never know exactly what a day may hold in store for them, they want to be ready for any contingency. Sometimes, however, that just might not be possible.

With today’s health care economic realities, most community and rural hospitals can’t afford to have their own dedicated specialists like pediatric critical care intensivists or stroke experts – highly trained doctors who are typically the best qualified and experienced to treat the most critically ill patients.

Today, however, MUSC can put those experts virtually at the bedside of patients throughout the state.

Through the MUSC Health Center for Telehealth, in addition to hospital-based programs, there are several outpatient programs where urgent, primary and specialty care is delivered to patients at virtually any location, even their homes, using MUSC’s mobile health technologies.”

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-The Post and Courier

For three hours every week, a psychiatrist sees low-income, often uninsured patients at Volunteers in Medicine on Hilton Head Island. Yet it’s not enough.

The clinic, which relies on volunteers and schedules more than 30,000 visits per year, has had to stop scheduling new consultations.

Doug Wolter, a clinical psychologist and director of the clinic’s mental health services, said Volunteers in Medicine has been overwhelmed with the number of patients who need this treatment.

So a partnership was built with the Medical University of South Carolina to allow Charleston psychiatrists to see the clinic’s patients via telecommunication. Wolter said for these patients, telemedicine could make a significant difference in their mental health care.

“It could be of a tremendous benefit to some rural areas where there is not access to medical specialists,” he said.

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