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TELEHEALTH IN ACTION
On this page you will find examples of telehealth in action. Do you
have a story to share? If so send it to the TAO contact. Click
HERE for that email address.
Telemedicine a Cost-Effective Alternative to ER
Visits
Friday, May 9, 2008; 12:00 AM
FRIDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Telemedicine is a
cost-effective way to replace more than a quarter of all visits to the
pediatric emergency department, according to a community-wide study
conducted in New York.
Ailments, such as ear infections or sore throats, that
virtually always prove manageable by telemedicine made up almost 28 percent
of all pediatric ER visits in Rochester, N.Y., during one year, according to
investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Their findings were presented recently at the 2008
Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, in Honolulu.
"We learned that more than one in four local patients
are using the pediatric emergency department for non-emergencies," lead
investigator Dr. Kenneth McConnochie, a professor of pediatrics at the
University of Rochester's Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong, said in a
prepared statement. "This mismatch of needs and resources is inefficient,
costly and impersonal for everyone involved."
McConnochie and his colleagues, who direct a
Rochester-based telemedicine program that provides interactive,
Internet-based pediatric health-care service to the area, analyzed data for
all pediatric visits to the largest emergency department in the city. Based
on their experience, they determined at least 12,000 visits were ones they
routinely treat with success via telemedicine.
The other visits were either problems that sometimes
are treatable through telemedicine, such as asthma attacks; or ones beyond
the scope of the technology, such as a serious wound or injury.
"This would've not only freed up emergency resources to
people who needed them more, it would have afforded smaller co-pays for
parents and more timely, personalized care," McConnochie said.
In related research presented at the meeting,
McConnochie suggested that telemedicine could also help insurers and the
community by providing better quality care at a lower price -- saving
insurers more than $14 per child per year in that local community.
The conclusion was reached by studying two groups of
children that were almost identical, but one had access to their doctor's
office, the emergency department and telemedicine technology for care, while
the second had only the first two options.
"We found that the first group of families, which had
access to telemedicine for their children, did in fact access care for
illness overall nearly 23 percent more often than the second group,"
McConnochie said.
But since children with telemedicine access had 24
percent fewer ER visits, which cost about seven times the cost of a doctor
office or telemedicine visit, the telemedicine group ultimately still cost
insurers less per child over a year.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about
children's health.
SOURCE: University of Rochester Medical Center, news release, May 6, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050901866_pf.html
Advances in Technology Allow Sick Kids to Stick
Closer to Home
By Jill Burrell, RN
This past spring, the parents of an 8-month-old having
seizures rushed their son to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. After an
initial examination determined that the boy’s case required extra medical
help not available on site, the hospital pediatrics team swung into action:
They rolled a special cart into the boy’s room, stationed it at the end of
his bed, and trained the roving eye of a high-tech video camera on the
child. Appearing live on the attached monitor was a Pediatric Intensive Care
Unit specialist from Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland.
The Portland and Eugene doctors used the cameras and
television-like screens to examine the child. Ultimately, they decided the
boy and his family needed to go to Doernbecher for treatment. Though worried
and anxious, the boy’s parents were comforted by seeing and speaking to the
doctor on the monitor and knowing he would be there to meet them when they
arrived on the Oregon Health Sciences University campus in Portland two
hours later.
The live and real-time exchange of information and
pictures also helped the OHSU physicians know what to expect and how to
prepare for when the boy was brought in.
This event was one of nine medical emergencies in the
past six months in which Sacred Heart Pediatric & Adolescent Care Unit
physicians consulted with Doernbecher specialists by what’s known as
“telemedicine.” The two hospitals have always worked closely but in April
started a year-long pilot project with state-of-the-art technology to
determine whether pediatric patients need to head to Portland or stay in
Eugene for treatment. It’s the first such telemedicine project between OHSU
and any hospital in the state. And it’s working great.
The PeaceHealth-OHSU partnership was formed because
Sacred Heart does not have the patient volume to sustain its own
round-the-clock pediatric intensive care unit. Five years ago Sacred Heart
dedicated space for pediatric patients and added nursing staff that stay
current in special training in critical care so much of the care is
delivered here now. Pediatric patients who still required more medical
attention than they could get locally traveled to Portland. Sometimes the
situation was serious enough to warrant the trip; other times, the crisis
had passed by the time the patient got to Doernbecher. Since April,
telemedicine has not only spared about half of the children and their
families an unnecessary and costly trip north, but it has also boosted the
level of care available to local area children in both locations.
The portable cameras and monitors - which are capable
of zooming in close enough to clearly see a skin rash - make it possible for
specialists to evaluate and interact with patients and their families and to
consult in person with local physicians, nurses and therapists about
challenging cases any time of the day or night.
Telemedicine has been around for years and ranges from
the simple act of two physicians discussing a case by phone to the more
complex real-time videoconferencing between doctor and patient in one
location and a specialist many miles away in another. Lower-tech examples of
telemedicine include transmitting medical data (such as medical imaging
results or patient history files) to a doctor or medical specialist to
review, or faxing a prescription to the pharmacy. This type of telemedicine
is used frequently in non-emergency situations.
Real-time telemedicine is being used increasingly in
such settings as isolated rural areas, home health, and emergency
departments for child abuse or trauma. Telemedicine technology is also being
used for mental health and medical exams and consultations in prisons. The
technology is also connecting patients, medical staff and specialists in
settings that range from nursing homes to NASA space missions, and from
cruise ships to far-flung military installations. These days, on-campus
school nurses are consulting with off-site physicians through telemedicine.
Recently, ear exams were being done in a daycare setting via telemedicine.
Telemedicine is also being used by translators at the
hospital and at all of PeaceHealth’s medical clinics. The technology is
expected to enhance communication between the new Sacred Heart Medical
Center at RiverBend and Sacred Heart Medical Center at the University
District.
Based on the results with just the two examples of
real-time videoconferencing currently in the works locally, the future for
telemedicine looks bright. This exciting new frontier will ultimately help
us as medical professionals provide more timely and better care no matter
where.
Jill Burrell is pediatrics nurse manager at Sacred
Heart Medical Center in Eugene.
Office: 541-685-1706
Is technology a key to
aging in place?
Older adults have positive
attitudes toward using technology so they can function independently at
home, even though they may not be sure what those technologies are. Opinions
about technologies, such as home security services, sensors to detect falls
and devices to regulate temperature, lights and appliances, were collected
in a survey of 907 people ages 65 years and older.
Three-fourths of older
adults supported the use of telemedicine to diagnose or monitor health
conditions remotely, for example, by having a cardiologist diagnose or
monitor a heart condition using information transmitted electronically from
the primary care physician's office or their home. More than 9 in 10 support
the use of telepharmacy allowing their doctor to monitor their medications
and send prescriptions to the pharmacy.
With the exception of door
or window alarms, fewer than half were aware of electronic devices that
regulate the house's temperature, lights and appliances (40%), activity
monitors (35%) and sensors to detect falls (21%).
They were very aware of
personal emergency response systems (91%), and unaware of electronic pill
boxes (13%). However, they expressed a strong interest in using
television-based and Internet monitoring with provider communication and the
electronic pillboxes.
The major barriers to using
these technologies were cost and perception of need.
"The ground is fertile for
the use of caregiving technology to flourish," said Elinor Ginzler at AARP.
"Almost nine in 10 older Americans want to be able to stay in their own
homes and they are willing to use technology that can help them do that.
Cost, however, is the elephant in the room-how to pay remains a big
obstacle."
SOURCE: AARP (March 28, 2008)
Robot Helps Holy Rosary Medical Center Connect Parents With Baby
Last week, a female patient arrived at
Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario, Oregon for complications with her
pregnancy. She had an emergency C-section and a baby girl was born at 27
weeks, weighing under 2 lbs. The baby was transferred to St. Alphonsus
Regional Medical Center (SARMC) in Boise, Idaho, for treatment and surgery.
The team at SARMC used the RP-7 Robot
and a Laptop ControlStation to facilitate an interaction between the parents
and their newborn baby. Before the robotic interaction, the family had only
seen their baby through a few cell phone pictures. Linda White, the nurse at
Holy Rosary who coordinated this interaction, was able to set up their
Laptop ControlStation and zoom in close to the baby girl's face. The parents
communicated with the baby for two hours through the robot, their first real
bonding time with their baby.
Ms. White describes the experience,
"The Mom and Dad sat at the computer on our end for 2 hours just talking to
their baby. The NICU staff was so very awesome and let the robot stay at the
bedside so the mom could just talk to her baby. This is a family who has
little availability for travel to Boise so this was great. We got pictures
of the mom and dad talking with the baby via the computer. We could get a
close up of the baby's face and the mom immediately started crying when we
zoomed in----she was so grateful as was the dad. The most fun and rewarding
thing I have done in several years in my job. Thanks to all and for the
opportunity to work with telemedicine."
InTouch Health · 90
Castilian Drive, Suite 200, Santa Barbara, CA 805-562-8686 ·
www.intouchhealth.com
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