The Missouri Telehealth Network has been central to this access since 1995.

"We're a very rural community, we're about an hour and a half to two hours from Columbia, two hours from Kansas City so a lot of people don't have the means of transportation to go back and forth," said Debbie Frazier, a Telehealth patient.

The same technology that allows a reporter to interview Frazier in a northwest Missouri town also allows doctors to provide long-distance treatment Frazier might not otherwise get.

"I was seen for a dermatological, a skin breakout on my hands, and they were able to see me over Telemedicine.  They were able to prescribe medicine for me, it saved me a whole day of not having to take off work," Frazier said.

One of the more recent changes to Missouri Telehealth is the move to HD technology. The use of HD monitors allows doctors to better communicate with their patients and make clearer diagnosis of their health problems.

Although technology can go a long way to save time and money, it can't replace the traditional bedside manner.

"Having someone direct with wound care, actually doing the dressing there, physicians are very geared towards we have to do it," said Dr. Greg Worsowicz of University Hospital.

Federal grants pay for Missouri Telehealth.

"We got Medicare coverage in 2000, and after that the commercial payers started paying, and more recently most of the state's Medicaid programs started paying like MO Healthnet here in Missouri started paying," Rachel Mutrux from Missouri Telehealth said.

"It allows me to care for people we may not have been able to care for or may have missed care for in the past," Worsowicz said.

Missouri telehealth has expanded from two counties in 1995 to 150 locations in 48 counties this year.