Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, N.H., launched a "tele-emergency" program Thursday that allows providers from remote locations to observe patient rooms when hospital staff is overwhelmed, according to a Valley News report.
When providers need assistance, they can activate the tele-emergency system. Within 60 seconds, physicians and nurses at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., or Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera eCARE appear on a screen that faces the patient's bed.
The remote providers can observe activity in the patients' room, which includes the bedside monitor and vital signs, through a camera placed above the screen. If a patient comes in with an injury that requires hands-on care, remote providers can assist with documentation and help to coordinate a transfer, said Peter Wright, president and CEO of Valley Regional Healthcare. However, if a patient is having a heart attack, a remote physician could direct on-site staff as they manage the patient's care, Mr. Wright added.
The additional assistance can allow patients to stay at Valley Regional and help keep the 396 beds at DHMC, a Level I trauma center, available for those in the region who need it most, Mr. Wright said.
DHMC has seen more than 600 tele-emergency patients in the approximately two years the program has been active and provides tele-emergency services to eight other hospitals, said Kevin Curtis, MD, medical director of DHMC's Connected Care program.
Tele-emergency "improves the process and improves the transition of care," Mr. Wright told the Valley News. "That's the gap. That's where patients tend to get lost in the system. This does a much better job at closing those holes."