Baptist’s tradition of embracing leading-edge technology continues with the formation of a TeleHealth leadership team. TeleHealth is the use of videoconferencing, the Internet, streaming media, wireless communications and similar technologies to deliver long-distance health care.
Baptist facilities have been using TeleHealth to provide neurology and neonatology care in hospitals for a couple of years, and late last year, Baptist hospitals began using TeleHealth for infectious disease consultation. Two months ago, the Baptist Patient Placement Center opened, which began the centralization of patient placement internally and the transfer of patients to Baptist hospitals across the system. Baptist plans to further adopt TeleHealth technologies with the implementation of an electronic intensive care unit (eICU), electronic physician consults and electronic physician visits.
[toggle title=”Why are we investing in TeleHealth?” state=”open”] Research shows TeleHealth saves lives and is highly efficient. In addition, TeleHealth can meet consumer demand for more convenient care and employers’ desire to lower employee health care costs. It has support from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, which means more Medicare and Medicaid patients may be able to use TeleHealth. In January, Tennessee enacted legislation requiring commercial insurance payers to cover TeleHealth services.“A comprehensive TeleHealth platform is a key component of Baptist’s long-term strategy,” said Dr. Mark Swanson, vice president and chief medical officer for Baptist. “We must be able to respond to our customers’ requests for more convenient health care options. Using various electronic tools will allow us to do that, and it will allow us to extend the medical expertise that is readily available in metro Memphis across our entire network.”
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Forty-year Baptist team member Katie Morrissette has been chosen to lead this service line. As administrator of Baptist TeleHealth, she will oversee the implementation of all four of Baptist’s TeleHealth initiatives—the Baptist Patient Placement Center, the eICU, eConsults and eVisits.
Deborah Hall and Georganne Gairhan will lead the two largest TeleHealth strategies. Deborah, a 30-year Baptist team member and Baptist School of Nursing graduate who most recently served as manager of the patient placement center, will become the Baptist Patient Placement Center director. Georganne, a 24-year Baptist team member, will move from Baptist DeSoto’s director of nursing to the director of the system eICU.
Deborah will supervise the BPPC as it begins to monitor beds at more Baptist hospitals. By mid-September, the center will monitor all 2,300 hospital beds in the Baptist system.
“The BPPC is not just about placing patients in a bed; it’s about safely and effectively placing our patients in the appropriate level of care, within and across hospitals,” Katie said. “It’s about working together, continued communication with many operational stakeholders and end users. We have all learned together through this process and daily journey.”
A Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation grant made it possible to establish the eICU. An eICU is a support center led by an intensivist (a physician specializing in critical care) and staffed with a centralized team of experienced critical care nurses that provides remote analytical monitoring care of patients in multiple hospitals. The centralized care team uses two-way cameras, video monitors, microphones and smart alarms connected by high speed data lines to get real-time patient data around the clock. Intensivists can also communicate with on-site caregivers through dedicated telephone lines. The eICU will eventually monitor all Baptist ICUs. Georganne assumes her leadership role June 1, as the unit prepares for a mid-June kick-off.
“One of our main goals is to keep patients as close to home as possible, in their communities,” said Katie. “We also want to support and augment the care our regional hospitals are providing.”
[/toggle] [toggle title=”What’s next?” state=”close”] Baptist plans to further expand its TeleHealth offerings in the near future with two additional services. eConsults will allow physicians to consult with specialists not available in their communities, thus avoiding the need for patients to be transferred or commuting long distances for care. The primary physician will be able to share the patient’s electronic medical record with the specialist, and the specialist will be able to see and interview the patient through a high-resolution video link. With the assistance of the local health care provider and new electronic tools, the consultant will even be able to examine the patient.The second technology, eVisits, will allow patients to visit their doctor electronically, through their computer or mobile device. eVisits may ultimately help reduce readmissions because physicians can continue monitoring patients after they leave the hospital, and it allows patients with chronic conditions to visit their doctors more easily and conveniently.
“This is an exciting time in health care,” said Dr. Swanson. “Technology is developing rapidly and will allow us to deliver more sophisticated care to patients in their homes and local communities. Improving the overall health of the populations we serve will depend on our ability to utilize these new tools, and Baptist will continue to carefully evaluate and adopt these new technologies.”
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