Tablets Helping SF VA Broaden Telehealth System, Access For Patients

The Sioux Falls VA has been utilizing Telehealth Services for several years, but now many of their patients have the luxury of seeing a doctor from virtually anywhere.

Meet Jimmy Mallison, a Vietnam War Veteran, who served in the U.S. Army for 11 years.

“… spent a tour in Vietnam, a couple tours in Germany,” said Mallison.

The 68-year-old has been diagnosed with Diabetes and receives treatment at the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls. The only problem: he lives in Cherokee, Iowa; 125 miles away.

Mallison said, “My biggest struggle is because I don’t have transportation. If I had my own transportation then I would have a problem at all.”

In order to get treatment, he would have to make the two hour trip or travel 30 miles to his nearest clinic in Spirit Lake. A nurse there would still use Telehealth services to connect him to his doctor in Sioux Falls.

“A lot of the times, we run into situations where that veteran is depending on someone else to get them there so the provider may want to see them in a week but they can’t actually physically be here for another three weeks,” said Sioux Falls VA Telehealth Coordinator Jey Cole.

That’s no longer the case now. About a month ago, the VA invested in 60 tablets. They send them to people like Jimmy to use in their own homes.

“It really has just broadened the amount of veterans that we’re able to reach,” said Cole. “They can actually take the tablet to work, they can do the appointments from their home, they could do it from their parked car if they wanted to.”

Just Jimmy, his tablet and his provider, so they can focus on what really matters.

Mallison said, “She’s (The provider is) trying to help me with my diet, eating the proper things and exercising.”

The tablets don’t cost the patients anything. They have built in Wifi and there is no co-pay for their virtual visits.

The VA is also sending tablets to patients to help them determine what kind of technology would work best in their homes. The tablets eliminate the need for three or four staff members who would typically have to travel to those locations.