Originally posted to Data Center POST
Diagnosing and treating a medical illness is rarely as simple as just taking a pill, and when it comes to patients’ well-being, the stakes couldn’t be higher. For one county in Houston, Texas, a critical mission to eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) was jeopardized when Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017. Since TB treatment is measured on a scale of months and not weeks, the widespread disruption brought on by the storm posed serious implications — not only would treatment be prolonged for patients, but medication-resistant strains of the sickness became a very real fear.
Luckily, years prior to the hurricane, the county’s public health department had invested in emerging technologies and vendors that could provide remote healthcare services, enabling county staff and healthcare providers to reach out to TB patients despite the extraordinary circumstances. In the end, 97 percent of Harris County’s TB patients were able to stay on their treatment plan throughout the ordeal.
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