Telehealth program making medical access easier in North Country

People with disabilities who live in Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties are now finding easier ways to get medical care.

A new telehealth program aims to prevent costly trips to the emergency room, which is not an easy place for John Thurber of Northumberland to get to.

Thurber uses a wheelchair. He needs the help of the staff of AIM Services, a non-profit that supports people who have intellectual or developmental disabilities. Now he can avoid going to the emergency room for issues that aren’t necessarily an emergency.

AIM has partnered up with a company called Station MD, emergency room doctors specially trained in caring for people with disabilities.

Now if patients have an earache, a UTI, or anything else that can be handled via a face-to-face webcam visit, it will be handled by the doctors at Station MD.

The homes that are operated by AIM are now equipped with webcams and Bluetooth diagnostic devices that send real-time vitals to the doctors.

The new program is being paid for with a $130,000 grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the biggest grant in AIM’s history.

Learn more how valuable telehealth really is for this population by watching the video of Mark Mulholland’s story.