Mike Zimmer has been focused on creating technology solutions for the medical industry for the last 26 years.
He’s been involved in developing telehealth solutions that have saved lives, made it easier for doctors to do their jobs and for patients to receive care — all with the help of top health-care providers.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the most creative, innovative health-care providers in Minnesota,” he said.
Given Mike’s experience, we asked him to tell us more about telehealth and the benefits that come with it. We’ll release his responses throughout the month, leading up to ATA18.
Here’s what he had to say:
So, what is telehealth?
Well, telehealth has many forms. It could be any number of things, but in the end, it’s really just taking care of the patient, and using the most efficient, effective means possible to do so.
How can it be used?
So, telemedicine has many forms. It can be used for stroke monitoring. It gives the physician or health-care provider the ability to see how the stroke victim is after having a stroke and going through therapy.
It can also be used for prenatal care, prenatal monitoring, that type of thing, checking your vitals. It has a lot of different applications that it can be used for.
That’s important in those areas because a doctor can physically see the tells that they’re looking for, and that might prompt them to bring them in for additional tests or whatever the case may be.
How does telehealth help doctors, help patients?
In terms of how telehealth really helps the doctors help the patients, it really reduces the in-clinic visits. That’s really the primary reason for it.
Take into consideration a person that may live in a rural situation. What does a doctor visit mean to them?
That could be maybe a two to three-hour trip to a clinic for a routine visit. That’s a big commitment in time and probably expense in some situations if you have to go into a city and stay overnight or whatever that case may be.
This could alleviate a lot of those issues.
What do you like about telehealth?
I think what I like about it most — actually this is the part of the job I love most — is collaborating with physicians to develop new technologies and new ways of getting things done.
It’s always very exciting because you can see how vested they are in the patient’s care. And that’s what makes it worthwhile.
What do folks need to know about telehealth?
I think in the future what you’re going to see is there are going to be a lot of health-care providers that are going to find that it’s not a nice-to-have, it’s going to be a need-to-have.
More on Telehealth
AVI Systems joins more than 160 exhibitors at the American Telemedicine Association’s conference, ATA18, at the end of April.
In light of ATA18, we’ve been sharing blog posts, videos and more to shed light on the benefits of telehealth and its impact on doctors and patients alike.
This post is the first of a series of QA’s that we’ll have with Mike, leading up to ATA18.
Subscribe to AVI Systems’ YouTube channel for more updates on telemedicine.
