The Department of Defense is launching a portable telehealth system that will allow physicians to use video teleconferencing equipment to treat U.S. Army soldiers who have post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries, NextGov reports. According to NextGov, the Army has had difficulty providing such treatment because of distance and a lack of facilities.
Soldiers will receive remote care by visiting an 8-by-20-foot unit that has three treatment rooms. Doctors will be able to communicate with the soldiers through the unit's computer network and teleconferencing system.
The National Center for Telehealth and Technology -- part of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury -- is testing the first transportable unit and will begin treating soldiers in American Samoa.
The system also will be used to connect an Army Reserve unit in Iraq to a Veterans Affairs hospital in Honolulu (Brewin, NextGov, 3/22).