Telehealth is expanding beyond use in hospitals and rural healthcare to reach children and school nurses. With only 40 percent of U.S. schools having a full-time nurse, telehealth can help nurses remotely treat children in school.

Telehealth in schools allows students referred by the nurse to connect with a physician and undergo ear, nose and throat checks with instruments connected to the system. Researchers report telehealth in schools could bring benefits to those with complex conditions and help manage chronic diseases.

“I have the technology to listen to heart sounds, look in ears, at skin and in mouths,” said Stormee Williams, MD, a pediatrician who sees students via video. “But I can’t check an abdomen, so no tummy aches. And that’s the number one complaint among school-age children. But one school nurse said that she can have them lie down for 10 or 15 minutes, and then they’re ready to go back to class.”

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