Telemedicine, in which doctors can care for patients in different locations via a live feed on high-definition monitors, was implemented by Luther Midelfort in Eau Claire, Barron and Bloomer in late spring.
Dr. Alex Beuning, regional medical director of Luther Midelfort emergency services, said the usefulness of the tool soon may turn telemedicine into an industry standard.
"Historically we just made a telephone call," Beuning said. "But we like to see (the patients)."
Beuning said telemedicine can be crucial when a specific doctor or surgeon is not available at a surrounding hospital and a patient needs treatment immediately. Telemedicine also gives better qualified doctors the opportunity to more accurately diagnose patients at outlying facilities.
Beuning has used telemedicine five or six times since its implementation. One of the most memorable of those was the case of Bill Price of Cameron.
Price, 70, who had been in critical condition in the previous months because of pneumonia complications, went to the emergency room in Barron after having pain and shortness of breath over the course of a weekend.
Upon arriving, Price was told he had a collapsed lung.
"They really didn't understand how I made it Friday through Monday without going to the emergency room," Price said.
Without an available doctor, John Graykoski, a physician assistant at the hospital, turned to telemedicine.
Graykoski was led through Price's procedure by Beuning, who was nearly 60 miles away in Eau Claire. Beuning could see Graykoski doing the procedure, and Price and Graykoski could see Beuning giving directions.
"I had done lots and lots of (collapsed lungs) so I just kind of helped (Graykoski) through it," Beuning said. "It was nice for the patient because he could see the procedure and knew what was happening."
Price, who is back to walking a mile a day and has almost fully recovered, said knowing that he had the best doctor available - regardless of his location - for the procedure helped him rest easy.
"You're dealing with the best they've got to offer," Price said. "All these little hospitals can't afford these highly paid and highly skilled surgeons.
"At no time was there any feeling of anxiety. It was a good feeling."
Patients are not billed anything extra for the use of telemedicine, although Beuning said some insurance companies charge $25.
Beuning said planning for telemedicine at Luther Midelfort started about a year ago after the hospital received a grant through the state Public Service Commission. Each device, made by Tandberg Video Conferencing, costs roughly $20,000.
Chris Rushmann, senior audio visual specialist at Luther Midelfort in Eau Claire, said the devices were wired on pre-existing networks. Almost all the technological bugs have been worked out, and Rushmann said the use of telemedicine now is just a matter of getting doctors to adopt it into their practices.
"The image quality is as good as it can be without being face to face," Rushmann said.
Rushmann and Beuning said telemedicine currently is not being used at its full potential but should catch on as doctors become more comfortable with it.
Beuning said there has been talk of eventually adding the Luther Midelfort clinic in Osseo to the telemedicine network.
"When we thought we've needed (telemedicine), it has been very helpful and it was very well-received by the patients," Beuning said. "There's only so much you can learn from the words you can hear.
"A picture really is worth a thousand words."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Rob Hanson
Quelle/Source: Leader-Telegram, 29.08.2009
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