Pew Center on the States releases study that currently one in every 31 adults is within the corrections system; more than double the rate of a quarter century ago. AMD Global Telemedicine Inc. believes telemedicine is the answer.
AMD Global Telemedicine Inc, sees expanding opportunities for the advancement of telemedicine as a study released March 2, 2009, by the Pew Center on the States shows that 7.3 million people — one in 31 U.S. adults — are now in lock up, on parole, or serving probation. According to figures from the U.S. Department of Justice the United States has the highest incarceration rate and the largest prison population of any country in the world.
The Pew Study also found that last year, penitentiary systems were the fastest expanding spending area for States after Medicaid. Total State corrections costs now top $50 billion annually. The cost of incarcerating a single inmate now averages $29,000 a year. A significant portion of the inmate expense is providing healthcare.
The three biggest problems facing health care within prisons are: ability to recruit and retain doctors willing to travel into the prisons, costs and safety concerns associated with transporting prisoners to local emergency rooms for what are often times non-emergency situations and the general availability of specialists.
Telemedicine is the perfect solution to address these problems. Telemedicine is the technology that allows all inmates physical assessments to be completed within the prison walls while a doctor remains in any remote location throughout the world; this is not only a much safer alternative, but also saves valuable time and a significant amount of money.
“Implementing telemedicine within prison systems is not only a much safer option as it keeps violent criminals needing to be seen by a doctor out of the community, but it also drastically reduces transportation costs as well as the individual costs of each medical consultation. With the number of adults in prison continuously on the rise and the cost of maintaining their healthcare skyrocketing, telemedicine can contribute to a tremendous cost reduction for each state,” stated Steve Normandin, President of AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc.
For more information on this study visit https://www.pewcenteronthestates.org
About AMD Telemedicine
AMD Global Telemedicine is the leading, worldwide supplier of telemedicine equipment and technology devices used in telemedicine with more than 5,000 installed sites in 74 countries. AMD devices and tConsult™ software products offer clinically acclaimed, cost-effective solutions for the most challenging medical applications. AMD also provides complete technical support in program design, device integration, training, and remedial service to assure a successful program implementation. For more information on AMD Telemedicine, please visit www.amdtelemedicine.com, email pr@amdtelemedicine.com,or call 866-511-0923.
