Thanks to advances in video and computer technology, the key to better health is as close as a web camera connection away.
Skype lets people to use their computers to have global conversations with family and friends in real time. Similar technology is opening up the lines of communication between health care providers and their patients.
Telehealth allows transmission of medical images or data for diagnosis and disease management and gives healthcare providers new tools to prevent disease and promote good health. Remote monitoring between visits to doctor's offices has not only improved the quality of patients' lives but has proven effective in significantly reducing the need for hospitalization and emergency room visits.
"Telehealth is a virtualization of new and existing services that allows for a more intimate experience than a simple phone call can provide," said Frank Flood, regional manager of Northern Health's six-member telehealth department.
"By using video and peripheral equipment to extend the reach of clinics and specialists we reduce the physical and financial burden to our patients."
Video cameras that transmit live images of patients have become an essential tool for doctors to monitor the health of their patients. Ear, nose and throat specialists can remotely use electrodes attached to a sleeping baby's head to read brain waves that show responses to different sounds. Electronic stethoscopes can be plugged into home computers for remote monitoring of heartbeats. The NORTH (Network of Rural to Tertiary Healthcare) clinic that started last spring enables cardiac patients living in Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat to have their echocardiogram readings sent through video conferencing to heart specialists in Prince George. The service is also coming to Valemount, Quesnel and Fort St. John and eventually will be available to 28 B.C. communities, an essential tool of convenience especially helpful to patients who have suffered some kind of cardiac event.
Telehealth helps fill in gaps in cities where specialists are in short supply or non-existent. Prince George patients can access a dermatologist in Prince Rupert. Pharmacists use video links to ensure medications are properly handled and distributed in smaller communities where there are no pharmacists. Rehabilitation programs can be remotely facilitated by a doctor, who watches the patient perform an exercise under the care of a nurse or physiotherapist and can make recommendations that will speed the healing process.
Telehealth technology reduces the frequency of visits to a doctor's office or to clinics, an inconvenience to many patients who suffer mobility problems, live in rural areas, or lack a means of transportation. There are now 130 endpoints linked to Northern Health video conferencing technology network.
Northern Health is in the process of developing a new remote pre-admission clinic for patients who require surgery in a hospital. It will eliminate the need for patients from remote locations to come in to the hospital five days before surgery for testing (blood, X-rays or electrocardiograms) and to receive details from an anesthesiologist about medication and instructions for the night before surgery. Soon, that will be accomplished through a visit to a local clinic and there will be no need to make that extra trip. The remote pre-admission clinic will be unveiled later this year in Fort St. James and two other cities (one in the northwest, one in the northern Interior) will be also picked to roll out the initial service.
Flood is part of the B.C. Telehealth Development Committee, which represents all seven health authorities in B.C. as well as the University of B.C., and much of what Northern Health offers with its new telehealth services are part of a provincewide co-ordinated effort. As demand increases, Flood said Northern Heath will continue to expand telehealth into home monitoring patient programs and will look for ways to extend services into private physicians' offices.
Northern Health's telehealth programs for patient care have grown exponentially since federal funding was introduced in 2004, which allowed health authorities to significantly extend their video conferencing reach.
Not all programs are focused on curative practices; there are also preventative, promotional and educational applications. Doctors, residents and medical students gather in conference rooms for "grand rounds," an opportunity to use streaming video to discuss with their peers in other cities various treatment options for patients in hospital wards. Smoking cessation counseling and prenatal clinics are offered to groups through teleconferencing, and some of those clinics are even crossing borders.
"We have clinics we offer to Alberta and vice-versa, just because of the way specialties work," said Flood. "We're experiencing 27 per cent growth in our usage each year. It's a noticeable increase."
As technology improves, in some cases, costs have dropped. High-definition video cameras are reasonably-priced and small communities now have affordable access to large bandwidth Internet links, which only a few years ago were prohibitively expensive.
"The simple stuff, like high-definition video is the norm, so the quality is greatly improved," said Flood. "New doctors coming out of medical school are so used to the technology, they want it, and existing doctors now are seeing the value of it and are utilizing it a lot more."
