UK doctors use remote ultrasound program to care for at-risk expectant mothers in rural areas
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| Sonographer Laura Bates moved a camera in Manchester while a doctor at UK talked with patient Mary Sizemore. (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Andrea Noell) |
“Care often is best delivered close to home,” Dr. John O’Brien, director of maternal fetal medicine at UK HealthCare, told Mary Meehan of the Lexington Herald-Leader. That’s why he and other UK doctors are providing remote care for at-risk mothers in rural areas through the Blue Angels program.
Finding money and transportation to travel to Lexington, and navigating the campus, can be challenging and stressful, especially for mothers who are concerned about the trip’s potential impact on their unborn children. Instead, “O’Brien reviews ultrasounds in real time via an Internet connecting using a specially designed portable ultrasound machine with a specially trained sonographer,” Meehan reports.