ADVANCE for Executive Insight 1 ADVANCE for Executive Insight

telemedicine
nurses can monitor the various ICUs remotely.
Since implementing this program, Mercy’s mortality
rate, hospital length of stay and ICU length
of stay have dropped by 20-30%.
In addition to a tele-ICU, Mercy also has a
telestroke program in which we use mobile
telemedicine carts in each of our emergency
departments (ED). If a stroke patient comes to
the ED, we can move the cart to the patient’s
bedside and a specialist can begin assessing and
treating the patient right away. This not only
gets expert care to the patient faster—a critical
element in limiting the potential damage
caused by a stroke—it also reduces the disruption
to the patient because he or she does not
need to be moved.
Helping More Than Just Patients
In addition to enhancing patient care, telemedicine
can bolster clinician recruitment and retention
efforts. For example, it can be challenging
to recruit a highly credentialed specialist to
work in a small hospital, and even if you can get
an individual to come, you may only be able to
afford one such person. With no back-up, the
specialist would need to be on-call year-round
without any breaks. This punishing schedule
impacts quality of life and leads to high physician
turnover.
Through telemedicine, Mercy is able to have
back-up support for all specialists, enabling the
organization to offer specialized care at any time
and at any facility. We can also ensure our physicians
maintain balance in their lives, increasing
both satisfaction and retention.
Telemedicine also fosters continuity of care.
For example, within the last year in one of our
Lead Like A Rock Star:
Rock Solid Leadership,
Communication, and Collaboration
August 28-30, 2013 • Myrtle Beach, SC
The South Carolina Medical Group Management Association
(SCMGMA) will host its annual conference "Lead Like A Rock Star:
Rock Solid Leadership, Communication and Collaboration", at the
Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort and Convention Center, Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina. The event will feature presentations of interest to
medical practice managers, hospital VPs and directors, and physicians.
Topics include futuristic medicine, the Affordable Care Act,
Medicare E and M Coding, process improvement, patient
satisfaction, as well as a healthcare panel discussion.
Those interested in attending or exhibiting may visit our website
at www.scmgma.com or contact
Cindy Ott, Executive Director, at 803-387-7864 for more information.
Being open to
change is the key
to getting the
most out of this
technology. If
you can imagine
it, it’s probably
possible, which is
what makes using
telemedicine
so exciting and
rewarding.
On the Web
For related content, enter
“Telemedicine” in the
keyword search box at
www.advanceweb.com/
executiveinsight
facilities, we had a pediatric neurologist resign
and there was no backup in place to cover his patients.
Without telemedicine, we would’ve been
forced to shut down the service until we found
a replacement. Instead, we refitted one of our
stroke telemedicine carts to support pediatric
neurology and had the service back up and running
in a week.
Overcoming Roadblocks
One of the biggest challenges Mercy had when
launching the telemedicine program was physician
resistance. Some physicians initially struggled
to accept this technology as an appropriate
way to assess patients and ensure safe care. We
found the key to overcoming hesitation was to
identify physician champions and enlist their assistance
in getting others on board.
We also learned that a physician needs to experience
telemedicine firsthand to fully appreciate
it. The equipment has a high-definition, color
camera that can zoom in to an area, allowing a
physician to conduct a thorough assessment,
examine wounds, read an IV bag and so on. By
interacting with the equipment, physicians can
better visualize how the technology enhances
patient care.
Getting Started
There is no established blueprint for launching
a telemedicine program. The approach we took
was to first research current trends in the field,
and since the technology is evolving rapidly, it’s
important to keep attuned to what’s happening
in the market. We also developed a strategic plan
that outlined short-term and long-term goals.
After that, we dove into the work, pilot testing
different applications to see what was most beneficial
for our organization.
Even though Mercy Health has had a telemedicine
program since 2006, we feel we’ve
just scratched the surface of the technology’s
potential. We are constantly finding ways to
incorporate telemedicine into patient care. We
have 72 projects under way that are integrating
the technology into various areas, including
school-based clinics, work site clinics, palliative
care programs and remote home monitoring
programs.
Being open to change is the key to getting the
most out of this technology. If you can imagine
it, it’s probably possible, which is what makes using
telemedicine so exciting and rewarding.
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