MOBILE CLINICS. Mobile clinics are transportable facilities
where health care specialists can treat patients. Using wireless
high-resolution video conferencing, mobile clinics in the form
of buses or vans can travel throughout rural areas with clinical
technicians bringing hospital-type facilities to remote areas.
The clinical technician coordinates communications with medical
experts via wireless video conferencing consultations.
These telemedicine videoconference facilities allow hospital-
based physicians to view patient wounds from a live video
image. The traditional method requires visiting nurses to take
Polaroid photographs of wounds and forward them to physicians
for review. From the snapshot, the physician assesses
how the wound is progressing and determines whether changes
in medication or treatment are needed. Using mobile medicine,
visiting nurses dial the physician, forward the image in
real-time, and facilitate interaction between patients and hospital-
based providers. Images can be captured and stored in an
electronic medical record. The technology can help reduce the
cost of continuing inappropriate therapy and shorten the time
between data collection and decision making.