Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Technology Helping to Improve Access to Care: Champlain LHIN Investing in Nurses and Telemedicine Technology
More residents living in the Champlain region will benefit from specialized care closer to home as the Champlain LHIN hires 15 new telemedicine nurses to expand care delivery. For patients, this means improved access to health care, less travel and an increase in the types of health care services available at more than 150 places across the Champlain LHIN.
The telemedicine nurses take advantage of the latest technology for virtual patient consultations, assessments, training and knowledge exchange. Using telemedicine, health care professionals are able to deliver clinical care using live, two-way videoconferencing systems and related diagnostic equipment. For example, telemedicine nurses can meet patients in a rural location and provide information such as blood pressure and respiratory function instantaneously to a physician at a specialized hospital in Ottawa.
Four new telemedicine host sites have been put in place in the Champlain region. They are: Hawkesbury & District General Hospital, North Lanark Community Health Centre, Pembroke General Hospital, and South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre. These sites work in partnership with other health agencies. The Ottawa Hospital is a fifth site playing a coordinating role with other hospitals in Ottawa to provide health-professional consultant services. To date, 9 of the 15 new nurses have been hired and received training.
Telemedicine is growing steadily in the Champlain region. In 2011-12, there were roughly 22,600 clinical telemedicine encounters in the region, up from about 15,700 the year before. The majority of these encounters were for physician specialties such as psychiatry, dermatology, nephrology (kidney) and pediatrics, as well as for diabetes check-ups, nursing visits, and dietary consultations.
Telemedicine services are made available through OTN (Ontario Telemedicine Network), a world leader in telemedicine. OTN facilitates the delivery of care for patients in hundreds of health care locations across the province, as well as distance education and meetings for health care professionals and patients. An independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the Government of Ontario, OTN is committed to improving access and quality of care.
Quotes:
“Telemedicine makes it easier for people to receive high-quality health services as close to home as possible, which is of particular benefit to rural residents. The new telemedicine nursing project is an example of how the Champlain LHIN is working with health-care partners to improve residents’ health, as well as their experience of the health system.” - Chantale LeClerc, CEO, Champlain LHIN
“Telemedicine tears down geographic barriers and increases access to much-needed health care services. For patients, it means greater peace of mind knowing that medical knowledge and expertise are easier to access with the help of this technology.” - Dr. Ed Brown, CEO, Ontario Telemedicine Network
Quick Facts:- The Champlain LHIN is investing $951,000 annually in new telemedicine nurses.
- There are 154 OTN delivery sites and 5 host / coordinating sites in the Champlain region.
- Nine new telemedicine nurses have already been hired across the Champlain LHIN, with 6 more nurses to be hired soon, for a total of 15 new telemedicine nurses.
- The Champlain telemedicine program is overseen by the Regional Telemedicine Coordinating Committee.
- In 2011/12, the use of telemedicine in Ontario has resulted in an estimated $44 million in avoided travel costs.
- More than 3,000 health care professionals across more than 1,400 sites in Ontario use OTN to deliver care to their patients. This year, OTN will deliver more than 200,000 patient visits.
Learn More:
For more information about the Champlain LHIN, please visit www.champlainlhin.on.ca
For more information about OTN, please visit: www.otn.ca.
Media Contact:
Linda Ramsey
Project Liaison Officer, Champlain LHIN
Tel: 613.747.3212
Toll Free: 1.866.902.5446 x 3212
linda.ramsey@lhins.on.ca
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