It was nighttime in Berlin, Md., when a patient was admitted to Atlantic General Hospital in early February, with a suspected diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis. Given the rarity of the flesh-eating bacterial infection, the ICU nurse sought the opinion of a critical care physician to corroborate the diagnosis. One obstacle: No specialist was at hand.
Despite this, the nurse was successful—thanks to telemedicine, a doctor was able to make a confirmatory diagnosis from more than 100 miles