US telehealth company TytoCare is helping orphaned children in Mexico get access to healthcare, thanks to its TytoClinic system that can turn any location into a remote telehealth clinic.
Through TytoCare’s partnership with Beam Healthcare and the Beam Up charity, four orphanages in Tijuana are able to access to care for their children. Ashley Hefner, TytoCare’s Senior Director of Business Development & Partnerships, tells us more.
How did the partnership between TytoCare and Beam Healthcare happen?
TytoCare and Beam Healthcare became partners in February 2021. Beam Healthcare’s mission is to move medicine forward and to provide comprehensive and cost-effective physician services to critical access hospitals, micro-hospitals, primary care offices, skilled nursing homes, and charity organisations. TytoCare supports this mission by providing technology and software that enables providers to deliver the highest quality care virtually.
What specific issues did the orphanages in Tijuana have, that TytoCare could help address?Â
One of the main issues the orphanages face is access to healthcare. TytoCare’s all-in-one telehealth solution connects care teams with orphans in need, which is especially vital in more remote areas where access to quality healthcare is minimal.
TytoCare’s telehealth solutions are designed to provide a comprehensive medical exam from any location. The modular handheld device is an all-in-one tool for examining the heart, lungs, skin, ears, throat, abdomen, and body temperature. It has built-in guidance technology and machine learning algorithms, which ensure accuracy and ease of use for patients, and insights for healthcare providers.
Was there a cost to the orphanages?
Beam Healthcare donated the TytoClinic system to BeamUp for use in Tijuana orphanages. BeamUp is Beam Healthcare’s non-profit organisation, focused on tackling social determinants of health for kids living in poverty. Beam Healthcare is providing the funding for the devices, while BeamUp provides the manpower for operational matters, like  implementation and training staff to use the TytoCare technology.
How can telehealth inprove healthcare access in lower socioeconomic communities?
These communities face a variety of access issues to quality healthcare. For them to have sufficient access, healthcare services must be available and obtainable in a timely manner, yet many doctors are harder to reach in poorer neighbourhoods. 58% of the United States’ federally designated “primary care shortage areas” fall in high poverty neighbourhoods.
Telehealth can help address this lack of access to medical care by giving patients access to providers and allowing them to receive care during times that work for them and in their communities, instead of traveling long distances.
What sets TytoCare apart from other telehealth services?
TytoCare stands out from other solutions because of its handheld device, which allows doctors to diagnose and treat acute conditions such as the common cold, the flu, ear infections, bronchitis, and sore throats, and for monitoring and managing patients with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, COPD, congestive heart failure, and diabetes.
Healthcare providers can follow up with their patients through the device and track patients’ progress, recommend adjustments to existing treatments, and write prescriptions virtually. This means people living in lower socioeconomic communities can access the care and treatment they need, all from the comfort of their own home.
