Just a few weeks ago I got a text message with a picture from our summer intern. She was playing football, and the end of her second finger got jammed and looked terrible. She was wondering what she needed to do for it. Being a college student she didn't have much money, so she wanted to do the most inexpensive thing, but also knowing that she needs her hands in physical therapy school, she wanted to do what was best overall.

Five years ago, I would have told you there is no way tele-health would be something I would want to be involved with in my physical therapy profession. Everything in our world of physical therapy is extremely visual-spatial in orientation. There is a reason we come to the waiting room to get you and bring you into the treatment room or gym area. It's because we want to watch you move. I know it sounds crazy, but that is what we are doing. We watch you get up and we watch you walk. I know you think that because we are talking away to you that we might not notice the limp in your left leg, or the shift in your trunk when you put all your weight on it, but we do. We notice everything about the way you move. We are movement specialists. We can tell if your buttocks muscle isn't firing when you push-off with your foot, and we can tell if your back is stiff as we watch your hip move. We watch your head sway as you reach for your purse and we can tell if your shoulder is stiff by the way put on your jacket. As I said, we are watching you because your body can't hide its tricks of the trade from us, but it will certainly try to do it. This is what we do everyday: we analyze movement patterns and we try to make them better for you. So how in the world will our profession have a chance to be part of the tele-health world?

Tele-health is a new way to deliver health care utilizing telecommunications technologies. It works especially well in remote areas, where access to health care is limited, but it is also a way to empower consumers to have access to health care 24 hours a day, seven days a week without leaving their home or office. It has the ability to function just like you were in the office with the MD, nurse practitioner or physical therapist, all by video chat on your computer or phone. You can make appointments online and have the appropriate medical provider interact with you when needed. In our profession, we would have you use your phone to video you walking, climbing the stairs or seating down in your easy chair or by requesting you to send us pictures of your arm that is swollen and has contusions all over it from the air bag in your car that went off during the accident.

In a study called "Survey: Consumers Keen on Telemedicine" 2010, it stated that three-quarters of all U.S. consumers would use tele-health if it was available. This idea fascinated me, and at the same time made me perplexed. You see, the millennials are so capable of utilizing technology that I could see them easily using tele-health, but the baby boomers, I wasn't so sure of them being open to the idea. Evidently they are open to it, because of the convenience and ease of use. If they are on the road traveling in their motor home and they have a problem, they can schedule an appointment and get their meds revised, or decide whether they need a brace for their ankle they just twisted.

Health care keeps changing, and tele-health is the next step in providing better health care for our patients, whether they are here in town at our offices, or in Arizona or Hawaii working or on vacation. Our summer intern can tell you, after a few pictures and phone calls, we got her all set up and she is good to go.

Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy in Coeur d'Alene and in the Spokane Valley. We are in the process of becoming a tele-health provider. Stay tuned as we move into the next step of providing you with the best health care available, whether you are home or away. Coeur d'Alene office (208) 667-1988, Spokane Valley (509) 891-2623.