Telemedicine changes health care access at Rochester Catholic schools

Published: 2006-08-04

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) -- Some students at two Catholic schools in the Rochester Diocese are now able to visit their doctors without ever leaving their school buildings. St. Rita School in Webster and St. Joseph School in Penfield recently joined the ranks of 17 other elementary schools and child-care centers participating in Health-e-Access, an experimental telemedicine program being studied by researchers at the Golisano Children's Hospital of the University of Rochester's Medical Center. Through this program, each participating school and child-care center received high-quality videoconferencing equipment and digital cameras specifically designed for medical use. For example, one such camera is in an otoscope, which is used to examine a patient's ears, said Tina Cabisca, nurse manager for Health-e-Access. The technology links the schools and centers to pediatricians from 11 participating pediatric practices in the Rochester area, Cabisca told the Catholic Courier, newspaper of the Rochester Diocese. The pediatricians can examine ill students from miles away with the help of the cameras, videoconferencing equipment and a school staff person trained to use that equipment, she said.

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