March 2014 Newsletter

In This Issue

WCTN Telemedicine Robots - The Name of the Game

10 Ways Telemedicine is Changing Healthcare IT

WCTN Telemedicine Robots
The Name of the Game

The Telemedicine robots are a key component to the program, linking specialized physicians to remote patients. As a result of this, coupled with their mobility (and, perhaps, the friendly doctor face on the screen), many Telemedicine Network Partners view their robot almost as a true member of the team, rather than just a piece of technology.

In fact, many of our partners have personalized their robots by giving them names. Robot names are often selected as part of contests. Hospital employees and members of the community were given the opportunity to come up with a name for the newest member of Clara Barton Hospital and from that, R.E.T.A, Remote Emergency Telemedicine Assessment, was born. Nathan Pummell, RN at CBH, came up with the catchy name.

When asked about his process, Pummell declared, "I started with simply listing all of the words that came to mind when I thought about what this technology would provide or mean to our community. I listed words like stroke, neurologist, CVA, TIA, assessment, emergency, telemedicine, NIH Stroke Scale and this quickly grew into a very long list of options. After I had what I felt was a complete list, I started putting words together that made sense to me and seeing what type of acronym I could create with it. Her name finally came together when I determined that this would be a telemedicine assessment performed remotely by off-site providers which would be performed in the emergency room. After manipulating these components, R.E.T.A., Remote Emergency Telemedicine Assistant, stood out in my mind and became my submission."

Coleen Tummons, Gove County Medical Center's Radiology Department Director, won their "Name the Robot" contest with Dr. Spock. Soon after, Dr. Spock "showed his appreciation" when he was utilized in a stroke telemedicine consult for Coleen's Mom, Cora!

Yes, our robots have won a special place in our hearts and ERs. If you have a name for or a story about your robot, we'd love to hear about it.

10 Ways Telemedicine is Changing Healthcare IT

By Brian Eastwood | CIO | November 7, 2012

Telemedicine mixes teleconferencing, document-sharing and mobile technology in order to improve healthcare quality, largely for those who lack access to care. Here are 10 ways that telemedicine implementations are changing the delivery of healthcare services.

The use of telemedicine technology dates back to the late 1960s, when physicians ran a microwave line under Boston Harbor to connect Massachusetts General Hospital with Logan International Airport in order to examine patients at the airport clinic while avoiding Boston traffic.

Here's a look at 10 ways that telemedicine technology is changing the delivery of healthcare-along with a note of caution for organizations that are taking advantage of relaxed regulations to expand their use of telemedicine services.

1. Diagnose and Treat Strokes Faster

The sooner a stroke victim receives treatment, the better the chance of survival. In many cases, treatment hinges on the capability to identify key symptoms and administer medicine known as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) within three to five hours of suffering a stroke. Unfortunately, emergency room physicians don't always have the expertise to make these decisions, and small or rural hospitals don't always have a neurologist on call.

Enter telestroke services, which have been shown to improve stroke treatment in several ways:

Patients treated in hospitals that were part of a telestroke network in Georgia received tPA approximately 20 minutes faster than patients in hospitals outside the network.

Telestroke helped facilities in remote parts of Alberta reduce ER transfers to the University Hospital in Edmonton by up to 92 percent. Such ambulance or helicopter transports are costly, time-consuming and sometimes dangerous.
Videoconferencing led to more accurate diagnoses and treatments than telephone conversations in the Imperial Valley of California and in Boston.
Neurologists and radiologists in Arizona were able to use smartphone image-sharing applications that proved to be as accurate as desktop-based picture archiving and communication systems 92 percent of the time.

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.cio.com/article/720898/10_Ways_Telemedicine_Is_Changing_Healthcare_IT?page=1&taxonomyId=3147

Megan Canter

Director of Telemedicine

HCA Continental Division

4900 S Monaco Street, Suite 380

Denver, CO 80237-3487
303-788-2568 (ofc)

303-717-9995 (cell)

Megan.Canter@HCAHealthcare.com

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