Ivory Corothers is a diabetic patient who gets retinal scans taken at St. John's Well Child and Family Center in South Los Angeles. Clinic workers send those scans to a specialist in Northern California, who evaluates whether Corothers will need further treatment. (José Martinez/OnCentral)
Decades ago, doctors needed a way to bring medical care to folks who lived in isolated rural communities, miles away from the nearest doctor.
Thus telemedicine was born: A way for patient information to be relayed electronically to doctors, so that they don't have to meet face to face.
Neither the technology nor the idea are nothing new – but where it's being used is. Telemedicine is seeing a rapid growth within urban communities like South Los Angeles, and Nina Vaccaro, the executive director of the Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers, says that's because residents there are in dire need of access, particularly when it comes to specialty care.
"There aren't enough specialists that are willing to come to South Los Angeles as a whole, to provide for the needs of this community," she said. "So the clinics really have to look outside of their four walls to find access to those specialists."
Continue reading at KPCC – and listen to the accompanying radio piece...
