• Home
  • Practice Focus
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
    • How I Do It
    • TRIO Best Practices
  • Business of Medicine
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Practice Management
    • Tech Talk
    • AI
  • Literature Reviews
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Career
    • Medical Education
    • Professional Development
    • Resident Focus
  • ENT Perspectives
    • ENT Expressions
    • Everyday Ethics
    • From TRIO
    • The Great Debate
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Rx: Wellness
    • The Voice
    • Viewpoint
  • TRIO Resources
    • Triological Society
    • The Laryngoscope
    • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
    • TRIO Combined Sections Meetings
    • COSM
    • Related Otolaryngology Events
  • Search

Telemedicine Brings Otolaryngology Care to Patients in Underserved Areas

by Kurt Ulman • September 1, 2013

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version


In the 50 years since the first telemedicine (TM) systems were put in place, bringing specialty medicine to underserved rural areas, there has been an evolution from imaging and laboratory results to video teleconferencing and beyond.

You Might Also Like

  • Real-Time Telemedicine Model May Expand Otolaryngology Care to Remote Areas
  • Using Telemedicine in Otolaryngology
  • Telemedicine Emerges as a Valuable Resource After Natural Disasters
  • Telemedicine: Practicing Medicine across State Lines
Explore This Issue
September 2013

“Telemedicine is broadly defined as providing patient services using telecommunication,” said Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association in Washington, DC. “Starting in the ’60s and ’70s, there were demonstration projects of point-to-point video to see a patient remotely. At the same time, there was a push toward digitizing medical imaging, eliminating the need to have the films available.”

This led to the adoption of store-and-forward programs in which X-rays and other information could be gathered in one place, stored in digital form in another and accessed by a provider in a third. If you have received an e-mail with a relative’s picture attached, you have experienced the family equivalent.

Patient Access

So far, TM programs have been used to provide access to patients in underserved areas and are often the only way these services can be provided. “Telemedicine has flourished most often when there is not an adequate distribution of otolaryngologists for a certain area,” said Michael Holtel, MD, who recently retired as a subject matter expert for the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. “Rural practices, or where there is only one physician for a large geographical area, are when TM does best,” Dr. Holtel said.

It has also helped physicians and patients make more efficient use of their time. “We used to fly patients in from remote areas to be seen,” said John F. Kokesh, MD, medical director of the department of otolaryngology at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. “If they needed surgery, we would fly them home until there was an opening. They would then fly back to Anchorage at a large expense to both the system and the patient.”

Now, local providers send clinical information ahead of time. A physician reviews the results and decides on a course of treatment. If it can be handled at home, the local provider is contacted with suggestions. If surgery is required, patients only need to travel to Anchorage once.

Telemedicine in Otolaryngology

Otolaryngology may be especially well suited to TM protocols. “A lot of what we do is digitized already, so when sitting next to the patient, we are looking at a video screen,” said Moisés A. Arriaga, MD, MBA, FACS, director of otology-neurotology and professor of otolaryngology and neurosurgery at Louisiana State University and director of Our Lady of the Lake Hearing and Balance Center, both in New Orleans. “After information is digitized, it doesn’t matter if the physician is in the room or halfway around the world,” Dr. Arriaga said.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: teleconferencing, telemedicineIssue: September 2013

You Might Also Like:

  • Real-Time Telemedicine Model May Expand Otolaryngology Care to Remote Areas
  • Using Telemedicine in Otolaryngology
  • Telemedicine Emerges as a Valuable Resource After Natural Disasters
  • Telemedicine: Practicing Medicine across State Lines

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

Polls

Do you use AI-powered scribes for documentation?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive

Top Articles for Residents

  • Applications Open for Resident Members of ENTtoday Edit Board
  • How To Provide Helpful Feedback To Residents
  • Call for Resident Bowl Questions
  • New Standardized Otolaryngology Curriculum Launching July 1 Should Be Valuable Resource For Physicians Around The World
  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • How to: Positioning for Middle Cranial Fossa Repair of Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence

    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Advancements and Adoption Challenges 

    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name

    • The Importance of Time Away
    • Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Advancements and Adoption Challenges 
    • Reflections from a Past President of the Triological Society
    • ENT Surgeons Explore the Benefits and Challenges of AI-Powered Scribes: Revolutionizing Documentation in Healthcare
    • How To: Open Expansion Laryngoplasty for Combined Glottic and Subglottic Stenosis

Follow Us

  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • The Triological Society
  • The Laryngoscope
  • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies

Wiley

Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1559-4939