TeleCardiology is one of more than 50 specialties Veterans in certain VISNs can access through telehealth. The service allows Veterans with chronic or acute cardiac symptoms to connect with cardiology experts no matter where they are in the country.
When a Veteran in western Nebraska began having severe cardiac symptoms, he wasn’t sure he could get help in time. He didn’t have a strong enough internet signal for a video call but managed to connect by phone with VA TeleCardiologist Dr. Shawn Robinson.
“I don’t need my stethoscope all the time,” Robinson said about TeleCardiology. “When a Veteran tells me a certain series of symptoms, I know what the exam is going to be.”
What the Veteran described was serious — serious enough that Robinson quickly arranged care at the Denver VA Medical Center. Thanks to Robinson’s rapid intervention, the Veteran underwent life-saving bypass surgery.
