Joy Bonala

Community Paramedicine is a healthcare model that brings paramedics into the homes of patients for non-emergent reasons to help with access to health care.

Michaela Moss sits at her kitchen table. It is 10 p.m. at night. Beside her is Erica Kinloch, a healthcare technician for the Board of Disabilities and Special Needs. They talk on the phone with a telehealth facilitator for Station MD a telehealth service that the BDSN uses for their residents. After detailing an accident Michaela had, the facilitator can connect them to an ER doctor. In an entire process that takes 30 minutes, Michaela can connect to a doctor who can treat her through the tablet and peripherals Erica has brought with her.

When Christy Pleasant Cabaniss saw a sign reading ‘Are you over 50 and have you experienced trauma?’ it dawned on her that the chronic medical uncertainty she had dealt with for two decades had been traumatic.

In the United States, about one in five adults live with some type of mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, or depression. Unfortunately, psychiatric care is limited, especially in rural areas such as the Pee Dee of South Carolina.

Jack W. Gaddy has come a long way since surviving a stroke that affected the right side of his body. The Myrtle Beach retiree said the disconnect between his brain and his body makes it difficult to do basic things like brushing his teeth or buttoning his shirt. But telerehabilitation occupational therapy, a telehealth service, has helped him gain mobility.

Project ECHO for Opioid Use Disorders uses telehealth platforms to connect providers to a hub of experts from an academic medical center.

Project ECHO for Opioid Use Disorders uses telehealth platforms to connect providers to a hub of experts from an academic medical center.

When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, many people became isolated; but technology offered a way to stay connected. However, for many seniors, new technology is like a foreign language.“If you don't learn technology, you're gonna be left behind and a lot of folks are left behind now,” said Paul Dukes, a senior living in Columbia.Dukes enrolled in a digital literacy class offered by Palmetto Care Connections, a nonprofit telehealth network that works to connect healthcare providers to patients in rural communities through telehealth.

When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, many people became isolated; but technology offered a way to stay connected. However, for many seniors, new technology is like a foreign language.“If you don't learn technology, you're gonna be left behind and a lot of folks are left behind now,” said Paul Dukes, a senior living in Columbia.Dukes enrolled in a digital literacy class offered by Palmetto Care Connections, a nonprofit telehealth network that works to connect healthcare providers to patients in rural communities through telehealth.

As the covid-19 pandemic rages on around the country, here in South Carolina more people are being hospitalized from Covid-19 than at any point since the virus hit last March. That’s leaving clinicians, in some cases, to rely on telehealth to safely reach their patients. This week a national campaign launched called Telehealth Awareness Week. Ann Mond Johnson is chief executive officer of the American Telemedicine Association.