Program Connects Patients And Providers Using Mobile Carts, Tablets

By Karla Paris

Pilot telemedicine program expands to serve rural, underserved Arizona communities.

The Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP), developed in 1995, has grown from eight sites to virtually the entire state of Arizona. Much of the growth has been slow and steady over the years, but thanks in part to more grants being awarded in conjunction with private vendor investments, the adoption of telemedicine is rapidly increasing.

Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH), the largest healthcare organization in Northern and Central Arizona, announced it received a $129,000 USDA grant allowing the organization to remotely monitor another 200 to 250 patients in rural Arizona. The organization is equipped for growth with 300 physicians on its active medical staff. It also has more than 167,000 patient visits each year.

This is the hospital's second time receiving the award. The first time, five telemedicine carts went out to remote communities. With this newest award, another seven can be deployed, as well as putting tablets in the hands of health workers on the reservation. Six of the carts will be located at tribally governed health centers, along with one in Hilldale, Utah.

NAH provides healthcare services through Flagstaff Medical Center, Verde Valley Medical Center (with campuses in Cottonwood and Sedona), Northern Arizona Homecare and Hospice, the Heart & Vascular Center of Northern Arizona, Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, Fit Kids of Arizona, and Guardian Air. The organization includes a state-designated Level I Trauma Center, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and extensive cardiovascular surgical services including traditional and minimally invasive open heart surgery.

Flagstaff Medical Center is partnering with the Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment Project to bring a dozen tablets to reservation health representatives and nurses. These tablets can be used for documentation, to educate patients, or open up communication from one provider to the next.

Earlier this year, surgeons of the University of Arizona Department of Orthopedic Surgery were selected to be part of the Google Glass Explorer Program and have been using the technology on select patients since receiving them in December 2013. Google awarded 10,000 applicants a pair of these hands-free, wearable computers as part of its product beta testing.

As the technology moves past the Explorer phase and further software is developed, surgeons will be able to collaborate or broadcast what they are seeing in the OR to colleagues and give students a real-time look at surgical procedures. A Wi-Fi network dedicated to the Google Glass at UAMC-University has been established allowing surgeons in the OR to live stream procedures to colleagues or medical students on the secure network.

SOURCE: Verde Independent