Alabama Telehealth Network Adds Lung Cancer Consults for Rural Patients
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has launched another telehealth pilot program, this one aimed at providing residents in rural Bibb County with access to lung cancer specialists.
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By - Rural Alabama residents at risk of developing lung cancer are now able to access cancer specialists through a telehealth pilot program launched by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
UAB, whose O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only cancer center in the state to be recognized by the National Cancer Institute, started a new telehealth program this month with Bibb Medical Center in rural Bibb County. Through the program, BMC patients whose radiographic studies indicate a potential for lung cancer can access UAB specialists through a telemedicine portal managed by the UAB eMedicine program to determine whether they need further care.
“Our goal is to get patients diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage,” Joseph Thachuthara-George, MD, co-director of the Interventional Pulmonology Program, said in a press release issued by UAB.
“Our state has a very high incidence of lung cancer,” he added. “The goal here is to decrease patient wait time and expedite their diagnosis and staging process so that treatment can be initiated.”
The program continues an impressive string of connected health initiatives for UAB, whose eMedicine program is the only one in the state addressing lung cancer.
Last November, launched a federally funded study to determine whether telehealth could be used to improve diagnosis and treatment of eye disease in rural and underserved populations. A few months prior, UAB extended its telemedicine network to Bibb Medical Center and North Alabama Medical Center in Lauderdale County.
“This will create a telehealth hub for high-volume sites and will enable providers based in Birmingham to see multiple patients on the same day, even if the patients are not in the same clinic,” Eric Wallace, MD, medical director of UAB’s eMedicine program, said in a press release. “While a doctor is seeing one patient, another patient will be prepped by a nurse and ready to go once the previous appointment is over.”
With that expansion, UAB also extended the reach of its eMedicine network to handle cardiology and rheumatology consults at four rural hospitals, including Bibb.
