A local businessman has invested in a company that is looking to expand its digital healthcare technology in rural parts of Broome County. TeleHealth 365 is a member of the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator in Binghamton.

It was after a pitch contest held at the incubator that Vestal High School graduate Justin Marchuska II decided to invest an undisclosed amount in TeleHealth 365. The company's Vice President of Business Development, Amit Sharma, is also a Vestal grad. Marchuska says TeleHealth is offering a solution to rural healthcare that the area needs.

TeleHealth uses video and audio to connect patients in rural areas with specialists. The company is already partnered with hospitals and health centers in Texas and Florida as well as at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown.

"They had a situation where a patient had to wait 10 months to see a dermatologist," says Sharma, "Patients now can come right into Bassett Hospital, they're able to connect to a dermatologist. Within the first 2 weeks, a woman whose appointment was 10 months away, found out by seeing our dermatologist that she had skin cancer. We could start treatment right away. So, this is more than just being able to see a doctor, when you're seeing a specialist, you know, we have the ability to be saving lives."

Sharma says the doctors in the system partner with the medical centers who sign on for the program, so patients are seeing the same doctor every time they set up an appointment through their hometown hospital.