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If her neurologist moved to China, Lauren Stiles says she’d follow him there. “There’s so few doctors who do this,” said the New York-based president of patient advocacy group Dysautonomia International.

In her world, informed, experienced specialists — particularly in the autonomic nervous system — are extremely rare. Telehealth can open doors for patients who have been searching for a doctor who understands them. Stiles had to travel hundreds of miles to find an expert at the Cleveland Clinic who could diagnose her (it took two years to figure out she has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, and Sjögren’s syndrome). When that last-ditch doctor moved to Virginia, she followed him. 

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But many times, Stiles has questions that shouldn’t take a dozen-hour road trip to answer. She’d love to call him up and have an appointment over the phone. 

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