See the surgeon before you see the airport

Most of an orthopedic consultation is conversation and imaging review — both of which video handles well. In a telehealth visit Dr. Morton can take your history, watch how you move, review X-rays or MRI ordered near your home, explain your diagnosis, and lay out the full option ladder from injections and biologics to replacement. Post-operative check-ins, second opinions, and surveillance visits work beautifully by video too.

Honesty first: a screen can't palpate a joint, test ligament stability by hand, or clear you for surgery alone. So telehealth is offered when an in-person visit isn't practical — and it's never telehealth-only: the video visit does the thinking, and when surgery is planned, the hands-on exam and final testing fold into one efficient trip — a day for O‘ahu neighbors, a planned neighbor-island itinerary, or the full fly-in program for Pacific and international patients.

Hawai‘i's geography makes specialists a flight away for most residents; the Pacific's geography makes it worse. Telehealth flattens both. Neighbor-island patients from Hilo, Kona, Maui, and Kauai avoid interisland flights for routine visits; patients from Guam and Saipan, American Samoa, the Philippines, Japan, and Korea get US surgical opinions without leaving home. Evening hours in Asia line up naturally with Hawai‘i's clock.

Keep it simple: a quiet room, decent lighting, and shorts or loose clothing so the joint is visible. Have your medication list handy and your imaging done beforehand if possible — we'll tell you exactly what to get and where. A family member on the call is welcome and often helpful. If the connection drops, we finish by phone; technology should never be the reason you don't get answers.