Telehealth helps rural patients

If someone in the U.S. Navy were critically burned today on a ship in, say, the middle of the Indian Ocean, the ship’s doctor might page Dr. Pam Howard in Greeley.

She would get on her secure computer hooked to a satellite phone and access pictures of the burned patient. Howard — a burn specialist and medical director of the Western States Burn Center at North Colorado Medical Center — would call the ship and help its doctor decide the best course of action.

“Hopefully, we can save lives and limbs by having involvement from the beginning,” she said. “You’re getting…