“We’re probably more advanced in telehealth than most states in this country,” said state Rep. Murrell Smith.

Smith is one of the state legislature’s most prominent supporters of telehealth, which connects patients to health care providers through live video.

Gov. Henry McMaster declared Oct. 15 – 19 as Telehealth Awareness Week. Hospitals, healthcare groups, and school districts hosted public events during the week to highlight new programs and demonstrate how they work.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Alyssa Rheingold about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy. Dr. Rheingold is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Co-Director of the Sleep and Anxiety Treatment and Research Program at MUSC.

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH), the largest provider of telemedicine services in South Carolina, has set yet another benchmark in merging technology and quality healthcare, providing its 100,000th psychiatric service via telemedicine. This award-winning program, launched in 2009 with funding assistance from The Duke Endowment and the State Medicaid agency, connects patients in emergency departments and community mental health clinics to SCDMH psychiatrists in other locations.

Celia Kerr, Dr. Vicky Kerr's daughter, remembers what it was like to be the child of the first black female physician in the area. "My mom was the first black female physician in Rock Hill, and so it was kind of different. People weren’t quite used to that. In kindergarten, someone told me that only men could be doctors, so I came home and asked my mom, was she a man? And she said no, I’m not a man. Why would you ask that?"

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Edward Wilson about vision screening for infants starting at twelve months and throughout childhood. Dr. Wilson is the Miles Endowed Chair at the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC and he is the Chair of the Children’s Eye Foundation Board.

Thousands of residents on the Carolina coast evacuated ahead of Hurricane Florence, seeking shelter farther inland, in Sumter and Columbia. The hurricane kept some evacuees away from their homes for more than a week.

To expand health care access during the storm, organizations across the state like Palmetto Health made their telehealth services available for free. This allowed patients to stay where they were without getting on the roads, while still consulting with a doctor for medical concerns.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Shean Aujla about managing asthma in children and also new treatments for children with severe asthma.  Dr. Aujla is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and she is the Director of Pediatric Pulmonology at MUSC Children’s Health.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Christopher Cowan about research underway to better understand the genetic component of autism spectrum disorder.  Dr. Cowan is a Professor and he holds the William E. Murray SmartState Endowed Chair in Neuroscience at MUSC.

"We don’t talk about addiction, we talk about recovery.” Dr. Victor Archambeau is tired of seeing the negative aspects of addiction plastered everywhere. The problem is evident particularly in his area, Horry County, which he says is “ground zero” for SC with over 100 overdose deaths in one year.

This week Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Laura Carpenter about the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of autism in childhood. Dr. Carpenter is a Professor of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at MUSC.