Guilford firm pioneers 'telemedicine' in Maine
A Guilford business is pioneering "telemedicine" consultations for certain employees, but experts in the state say they're still waiting to see whether the videoconferencing technology improves health care outcomes for rural areas.
The Bangor Daily News reported that Hardwood Products & Puritan Medical Products Co. launched the telemedicine offerings to workers last month, connecting diabetic employees with a specialist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
The company's chief financial officer, Scott Wellman, told the paper that Hardwood & Puritan hopes the program will include as many as 25 employees in an effort to increase access to specialized health care services and reduce health care costs for the company.
Andrew Coburn, a rural health expert at the Muskie School of Public Service, told the newspaper that telemedicine historically has been employed by large businesses and noted that a state decision in 2009 endorsed the new technology, requiring health insurers to reimburse for services provided remotely.
Coburn told the newspaper that dealing with chronic conditions like diabetes in rural areas has provided steep challenges but that "just connecting patients to specialty resources doesn't necessarily promote the continuity of care or health care delivery that we want to see in rural areas."
But for the company, benefits are expected to show in the next year.
Justin Ward, director of client services for Patient Advocates, which manages Hardwood & Puritan's health plan, told the newspaper that concrete results from the use of telemedicine should begin to show within a year.
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