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Technology helps health care in North Carolina transcend distance

RelyMD, co-founded by UNC School of Medicine alumnus Dr. Bobby Park, is an online urgent care service that’s available 24/7, 365 days a year — a type of care that’s becoming more popular across the state. Launched in early January, RelyMD provides patients access to cheap, quick and convenient health care.

Users log on, pay the $49.95 co-pay, input their medical history and are wirelessly connected with one of RelyMD’s 70 practicing emergency medicine physicians.

“It’s for everyone with a busy schedule (who) is looking for a convenient, easy, high-quality way to receive urgent care,” Park said. “It’s like Skype, except secure.”

While the program is not currently covered by insurance, Park said it will be eventually.

“Innovation always precedes insurance and payers, it’s just a matter of time,” he said.

The idea behind RelyMD came from Park’s sister, who lives in California.

“At the time, she had a young daughter who fell off the monkey bars and got a cut on her wrist — so, she sent me a bunch of pictures of it, I looked at it and I told her, ‘It doesn’t need stitches, this is what I would do to take care of that,’” Park said. “I thought, ‘I do this every week with friends, family, church members — there is a critical need here.’”

The program can treat typical urgent care requests, such as cough, cold, allergies and generalized fever.

“We can’t do online CPR or take care of heart attacks or anything,” he said. “At least not yet.”

While the wireless telemedical platform is able to treat about 40 different conditions, it is limited by the lack of objective data, said Dr. Marc Westle, director of Mission Hospital’s Asheville-based telemedicine center.

“You can’t get the vital signs, can’t get to the heart, can’t look at the ears, can’t look in the throat — you can only see what’s on the skin, based on the camera,” Westle said.

He said, as long as patients use the service for care within well-defined clinical situations, the practice is beneficial.

Aside from doctor-patient services, telehealth also offers solutions for health professionals seeking a fresh take on patient care. Dr. Tim Poe, director of telehealth at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, described UNC’s telehealth services as primarily practitioner-to-practitioner communication, rather than doctor to patient.

“We have the opportunity for remote sites and remote institutions to join this conversation,” Poe said. “I think it’s broadening the level of expertise and providing access to a variety of education materials, strategies and practices, that health care practitioners might not otherwise have access to.”

Telemedicine allows for collaboration between health professionals across distances, in addition to the wireless diagnosis services offered to those without easy access to care.

“What we’re going to see is a greater ability to collaborate across distances,” Poe said.

state@dailytarheel.com

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