Instead of traveling to Enid or Oklahoma City for doctor visits, the Fairview resident consults with specialists at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City via satellite technology and videoconferencing equipment.
"I’m getting every bit of quality care here that I would in Enid, but I’m in my own town,” said Gard, a paraplegic.
He came to Fairview Regional Medical Center after 30 days at Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center in Oklahoma City and is the first Fairview patient to meet with doctors through telemedicine technology.
The real-time appointments allow him to collaborate with doctors in Fairview and specialists at St. Anthony to create custom physical therapy plans. The technology allows Gard to stay near his family and receive specialized care.
Kyle Nondorf, St. Anthony Hospital vice president of rural development, said telemedicine is the answer to keeping patients near home, at community hospitals and with access to specialized care.
"We’re breaking down barriers and have specialists that are virtually there 24/7,” he said.
The Saints 1st Telemedicine Network includes partnerships with seven hospitals and was funded through a $493,000 federal grant and $370,000 match from St. Anthony Hospital, Nondorf said.
Telemedicine has grown rapidly during the past 18 months, said Thomas Purvis, telehealth coordinator for the network.
"It’s a great deal to have access to the therapists down there and continue on where Jim Thorpe left off ... helping me with therapy and training,” Gard said.
He said it’s the future of medicine for rural communities.
"Remote teaching and learning is becoming a way of life,” Gard said.
He hopes people understand the standard of care is the same, he said.
Robert Rader, a family medicine specialist at St. Anthony, said telemedicine helps efficiency and patient care.
"We’re trying to keep families and doctors well equipped in rural Oklahoma,” Rader said. "We want to do whatever we can to keep them at home and not wading through cities and hospitals waiting for doctors.”
The Saints 1st Telemedicine Network also offers psychiatry, and this summer it will launch services in cardiology, stroke treatment, neurology, orthopedics, ear nose and throat treatment, pulmonology and wound care.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Meredith Moriak
Quelle/Source: NewsOK, 10.05.2010
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