The Virtual Hospitalist Program is finishing the year as strong as it began, with a visit from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds a few weeks ago, according to this report from KTVO.

The Virtual Hospitalist Program, a telemedicine collaboration involving Internal Medicine’s Hospitalists, The Signal Center for Health Innovation, and Van Buren County Hospital, was launched late last year and has steadily built on its successes month after month. The program was conceived as a way to grant patients in rural areas access to University of Iowa Health Care without having to travel and has been the subject of a number of articles. Its initial launch was covered by The Loop; The Gazette checked in on the program last July; U.S. News & World Report even dropped a reference to Iowa’s telehealth service in a longer trend piece.

The story on KTVO reports Gov. Reynolds as seeing the program as a good “opportunity for other hospitals.” Director of the Hospitalist Program, Dr. Kevin Glenn, appreciated the chance to describe the benefits of the program. Dr. Glenn said, “This is an excellent example of the University bringing our medical expertise to the patient, rather than the patient needing to come to the doctor, in a way that is financially, geographically, and temporally efficient for both parties.”