I have been using a form of tele-med for 5 years. My local hospital was part of the Sanford system. My nephrologist was at the Sanford hospital in Sioux Falls SD. I would have all my blood work done at my local hospital a few days before my appointment. On the day of my appointment I would go to my local hospital. I would be in a room with a camera and a monitor and a nurse. My doctor could see my test results. There was a stethoscope attached to the computer. The doctor could listen to my heart and lungs through the computer. This was all done through the hospital's network connection instead of through a cell phone.

For various reasons, I have had appointments at Mayo, Nebraska Medicine and Sanford. All of my doctors have access to all of my records at all of the hospitals. That became vitally important to me in the last few months when I was diagnosed with a recurrence of my pancreatic cancer. My doctors could see my PET and MRI scans done at various hospitals.

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