Newly Developed Virtual Clinics Provide Better Access to Care for Individuals with Epilepsy
An article was published in Epilepsy & Behavior describing the deployment of innovative virtual clinics (Healthcare as a Service; BioSerenity, Atlanta, GA) to provide improved access to care for individuals with epilepsy.
Virtual care solutions better connect people living with epilepsy to obtain EEG diagnostic services and provide continuity of care over great distances. Virtual epilepsy clinics allow remote specialist health management in areas where there are an insufficient number or no specialists available.
Shifting the diagnostic process out of the hospital or epilepsy center and taking it directly to the individual overcomes the growing gaps in neurology services. Virtual clinics have the potential to expand access to high-quality, cost-effective care for the individuals by remotely connecting those in need of medical support with specialists, anywhere in the world, at any time of the day.
Healthcare access remains a challenge for people living in areas where healthcare services are overburdened or limited due to lack of sufficient medical specialist resources. The COVID-19 pandemic places an even greater burden on routine healthcare services in addition to changing the way medical professionals engage with their patients.
According to Dr. Bruce Lavin, chief medical officer, "This review highlights the advantages of using remote diagnostic technologies to overcome potential access barriers to obtain EEGs in people living with epilepsy."
Dr. Martin Brodie, professor and director of the Epilepsy Unit in Glasgow, Scotland, and president of the International Bureau of Epilepsy and senior author on the review commented that, "The world and, especially for me, the epilepsy world will change substantially in the post COVID-19 days, months and years ahead. One of the major advances in clinical practice will be the continued and rapid expansion of virtual outpatient care. This development has the potential to improve the lives of many people with epilepsy living in the developing world."