Long before COVID-19 made telehealth commonplace, Dr. Melissa Tinney began offering video telehealth visits to her limb loss and other patients in West Virginia. She was an early adopter of VA Video Connect, VA’s secure videoconferencing app, because she realized it was often hard for the Veterans in her care to travel to VA facilities.
Dr. Tinney, who now works out of Ann Arbor VA, explained that before video visits, Veterans being fitted for an artificial limb needed two in-person visits: one with her and another with the prosthetist adjusting the limb. This was a significant travel burden for Veterans who didn’t live close to either provider. Now, thanks to video telehealth, Veterans can combine these visits into one. When they go to their nearest prosthetist to have their artificial limb adjusted, Dr. Tinney can join the appointment remotely through VA Video Connect to weigh in.
“To me, it is more efficient,” she said. “You’re not having to chase emails and phone calls or relying on the Veteran to be the messenger. It’s more simplified.”
