Telehealth Rescues Isolated Patients - University of South Alabama's telehealth network provides rural areas with medical expertise - Company Operations

Health Management Technology, Dec, 1999

SOURCE

Dr. Raymond Fletcher Medical Director, Telemedicine University of South Alabama College of Medicine 307 N.University Blvd. Mobile, AL 36688 Phone: 334-460-7158 Fax: 334-460-7159 E-mail: jfletcher@jaguar1.usouthal.edu

PROBLEM

Providing patients in rural areas with the specialists they need is a common problem in the healthcare industry. Several communities in rural southwest Alabama are among those that have experienced the consequences of not having a full range of healthcare services. For example, according to state health officials, low birth weight and infant mortality are among the highest in the state and across the nation.

Patients in these rural communities were unable to receive the treatment they required. Also, medical students and professionals residing in the rural areas had limited access to resources to help them expand and broaden their medical skills.

SOLUTION

The University of South Alabama's (USA) College of Medicine wanted to help medically underserved patients, so it established the first comprehensive rural telehealth network in the state. This project is primarily funded by a $2.7 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth.

USA's telehealth network is comprised of four hospitals, numerous clinic sites, and a 200-member multispecialty physicians' group. The system includes USA Medical Center, a 406-bed acute care hospital; USA Children's and Women's Hospital, a 159-bed birthing and acute care hospital; USA Knollwood Park Hospital, a 124-bed acute care hospital; and USA Knollwood Park Long Term Care Hospital, a 191-bed long-term care facility. The network, designed to provide medical services to patients' previously isolated from medical specialty care, has five sites within the university and serves four rural sites with video conferencing and patient care units within a 50 mile radius. It also provides continuing education for healthcare professionals in rural communities, reducing professional isolation.

Using high speed telecommunication links, the new telehealth network "virtually delivers" USA physicians to rural patients using real-time interactive video. A major focus of the project is to provide access to OB/GYN and pediatric specialists to improve birth rates and infant survival. Specialists also deliver services in the following areas: ENT, gastroentology, trauma/emergency medicine, orthopedics, radiology, cardiology, dermatology, neurology, and psychiatry.

The network also incorporates rural residency programs for medical students, distance learning for area medical professionals, patient education and counseling, and community education programs.

TRAINING AND INSTALLATION

In November 1998, the USA staff visited the East Carolina University telemedicine center and other telehealth centers in Tennessee and Kentucky. They also attended advanced telemedicine training at East Carolina University School of Medicine.

Installation of USA's system was completed in June 1999, only 18 months after initiating the project. The comprehensive telehealth network, which cost approximately $3 million, includes the following components:

Hardware:

* Videoconferencing and medical examination units from VTEL Corp.

* Peripheral medical devices from American Medical Development

* Technical support provided by GTE Network Services

Software: GTE/VTEL Networks: T1 data networks from BellSouth

Consultants:

* GTE Network Services

* GTE Telephone Operations

* VTEL Corp.

* BellSouth Business Systems

* Alabama Dept. of Finance-Data Network Operations Branch

BENEFITS

Using the network, the university can bring in many types of specialists to a service area largely populated by those who live below the poverty level. Each rural site is equipped with video cameras, computers, special electronic stethoscopes, opthalmoscopes (for eye examinations), and other electronic examination devices that enable the university's medical specialists to "virtually" examine patients.

The specialists can also formulate plans which, in many cases, can be followed in the convenience of the patient's hometown physician's office. This technology alleviates costly and time-consuming trips to specialists in Mobile. The sites can also dial up and receive consultations for emergency or trauma patients.

The telehealth technology gives rural nurses and healthcare professionals an integrated e-mail, patient information, and telemedicine system, as well as fast access to the university's extensive medical libraries.

RESULTS

The new telehealth network links medically underserved patients in Mobile and Washington counties up to 50 miles away from USA's urban health centers. Following the initial success, by early next year, the university plans to expand the network into six other counties in southwestern Alabama, adding seven rural sites extending over 100 miles.

By working together, the university and BellSouth have been able to make needed care more accessible to a greater number of Alabama patients, increasing efficiencies in patient information, research, and education.