DES MOINES, Iowa — As COVID-19 spreads, the medical community is turning to the virtual world.
Experts said telehealth could prevent the virus from spreading to doctors and other patients at clinics.
"I think we're going to see this used more and more in the very near future," said Dr. Robert Bender, medical director of Broadlawns Geriatric and Memory Center.
Bender is one of many doctors across the country using telehealth to see patients.
He said he hasn't treated any patients with COVID-19, but said telehealth could be a great tool to slow the spread of the virus.
"This type of technology will allow people to contact their physician undergoing examination over this FaceTime type technology and it'll avoid the spread of the virus because people will avoid contact with other people who are at risk," Bender said.
You may be wondering what exactly a doctor can treat through a computer screen. It turns out, they can treat a lot of things.
"There are technologies that will allow us to listen to a heartbeat, look at eyes, ears, nose and throat, and also we can get EKGs," Bender said.
Those technologies do require special equipment, but Bender said a lot can be diagnosed just simply by seeing a patient and having them share their symptoms.
"The coronavirus gives us an opportunity to say okay, what can we do better the next time as we get our arms around this?" Bender said. "I think telemedicine could play a really big part in meeting the next challenge like this."