" Improving the quality and accessibility of integrated health care
services, regardless of geographical boundaries, through the use of technology".
(Information Management Strategic Plan, River Valley Health, May 1999)
Telehealth is an innovative way of using information and telecommunications
technology (e.g. computers, internet, video-conferencing) to improve the quality
and accessibility of health care services, regardless of geographical
boundaries. For the region's patients, telehealth has resulted in bringing high
quality services closer to home, reducing the travel costs associated with
accessing care, and bringing new services to the region that may not have been
possible.
Our telehealth focus is guided by the River Valley Health (RVH) Telehealth
Strategic Plan that sets forth our telehealth vision and eight telehealth
strategic directions. We are pleased to provide you with a copy of this plan.
River Valley
Health. RVH Telehealth Strategic Plan,
Bridging the Distance, June 2002
Significant growth has occurred in the
number of patients in our region who have been able to
access a growing list of clinical services using telehealth.
Some of the factors contributing to this growth are:
- Establishment of strategic partnerships that have facilitated new
investments in telehealth infrastructure in more communities in our
region.
- Initiation of telehealth services in telemental health and
teleaddictions
- Expansion of telenephrology services to the Northern Carleton
Hospital, Bath
- Initiation of telehomecare services within the Extra-Mural Program in
Woodstock
- Expansion of access to genetic counseling and telepediatrics consults
(IWK Health Centre) to the Upper River Valley
- Onset of teleconsultations with the Toronto General Hospital for
patients being assessed for lung transplants
- Initiation of telehealth to support wound care and diabetes consults.
River Valley Health Telehealth Initiatives
Telehomecare:
EMPcare@home:
River Valley Health has defined EMPcare@home as a disease management approach to
the care of the patients with a chronic disease enabled by telehomecare. The
initial focus has been on patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The goal of this project, initiated in March 2005 in the
Woodstock Extra
-Mural Program, was to evaluate whether
the combination of telehomecare, timely staff intervention, and an enhanced
patient education program produces a better quality of life for patients, is
accepted by health professionals, and reduces the need for hospital care.
A comprehensive evaluation of this initiative was
completed in June 2006. Our findings exceeded our original
expectations in terms of impact on the use of hospital care,
and the extent to which patients and health professionals
accepted this new model of care. We are pleased to share a
copy of the Final Evaluation Report and a copy of the
Telehomecare Tool Kit for the EMPcare@home Initiative.
River Valley Health.
Final Evaluation Report. Telehomecare-EMPcare@home.
June 2006
River Valley
Health. Telehomecare Tool Kit for the EMPcare@home
Initiative. Summer 2006
Evaluation
demonstrates telehomecare reduces need for hospital care
Telemental
Health and Teleaddictions Partnership Project - Mawi
Wolakomiksultine: The goal of this project,
initiated in 2004, was to improve access to specialized
mental health and addiction services in Health Region 3,
beginning with the Upper River Valley, through the use of
telehealth technology. (Report of the RVH Mental Health
and Addiction Services Telehealth Task Force, December 2003).
Areas of focus for this initiative are: emergency room
psychiatric consultations; collaborative case consultations;
partnerships with First Nation communities in Health Region
3; and the provision of continuing health professional
education with a focus on aboriginal cultural awareness and
substance use disorders.
A comprehensive evaluation of the Telemental Health and
Teleaddictions Partnership Project was completed in the
spring of 2006. We are pleased to provide you with a copy of
the Final Evaluation Report.
River
Valley Health. Final Evaluation Report.
Telemental health and Teleaddictions
Partnership Project – Mawi Wolakomiksultine.
Spring 2006
Aboriginal Cultural
Awareness Course: The Mawi Project developed an
Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Course originally delivered by
videoconferencing technology and then reformatted into an on
line course that is accessible over the Internet. The course
goal is to sensitize and introduce health professionals to
Wolastoq (Maliseet) First Nation culture. We are pleased to
provide you with an opportunity to access this course,
developed and delivered by Imelda Perley, who was also the
cultural advisor for the MAWI Project.
River Valley Health. Aboriginal Cultural Awareness
Course. 2005
Provincial
Tertiary Telerehabilitation: Foundational work
has been completed to offer a comprehensive Provincial
Tertiary Telerehabilitation Program that will improve
access to the services provided by the new Stan Cassidy
Centre for Rehabilitation in Fredericton. In the fall of
2005, over 100 rehabilitation professionals and expert
faculty attended a telerehabilitation seminar that was
designed to expose attendees to leading
telerehabilitation practices at a national and
international level. This seminar also provided SCCR and
RVH with input into the development of priorities for a
provincial tertiary telerehabilitation service. We are
pleased to share the proceedings of this seminar.
River Valley
Health. Summary of Proceedings. Provincial Tertiary
Telerehabilitation Seminar. September 2005
Telenephrology:
Prior to the launch of the region's telenephrology program,
patients requiring hospital-based hemodialysis services had
no other alternative than to travel to the renal dialysis
centre in Saint John, three days a week, 156 days a year, in
all types of weather. Travel costs for these patients were
estimated to be approximately $8,000 annually. Today,
patients receiving treatment at either the Fredericton or
the Upper River Valley hemodialysis units are able to
consult with their nephrologist in Saint John using many
different types of computer, software, and
video-conferencing technologies.
Telecardiology:
The region's patients requiring heart surgery are
referred to New Brunswick's heart centre in Saint John.
Telehealth has made it possible for the region's
physicians to not only improve the referral process to
the centre, but now heart centre nurses and physicians
can monitor many of the region's patients in their own
homes during the crucial 7-10 day post-discharge period.
In addition, rather than travel to Saint John for their
six week follow-up visit, many of the region's patients
are seen by the heart centre specialists at the region's
Cardiac Telehealth Clinic located in Fredericton.
Telepaediatrics: Participation in the
Children's Telehealth Network
represents a significant enhancement to the outpatient
services offered to the region's pediatric population.
Rather than travel to Halifax for initial assessment
and/or follow-up, families and their children are
referred by the IWK Health Centre to the region's
Children's Telehealth Network
Site. Whether the service is genetic counseling or
preparation for admission to the IWK, River Valley
Health pediatricians and nurses are now able to offer
and access professional advice from physicians and nurse
specialists located in Halifax.
Tele-education and Teleadministration:
In fiscal year 2005-06, Telehealth Services issued a
User Impact Survey
to obtain feedback from River Valley Health staff on the
value they were obtaining from our telehealth
infrastructure for education and administrative
meetings. Rural staff and physicians reported that this
technology provides them with greater access to
continuing education and greater involvement in
region-wide activities.
Grand Rounds Now:
River Valley Health has harnessed the power of the
Internet in providing "just in time" continuing medical
education. Physicians who access the region's medical
education web site can hear the presentation at
a time convenient to their schedule; can email their
questions directly to the presenter. In addition,
continuing medical education credits are accessible
for physicians who participate in this form of
self-directed continuing education. To view this site go
to
www.grandroundsnow.com
For more information, please contact Valerie Hagerman,
Regional Director, Telehealth @ Valerie.Hagerman@rvh.nb.ca