FAHC, CVMC use roving telemedicine unit
Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) and Fletcher Allen Health Care, now affiliated as Fletcher Allen Partners (FAP), recently made a significant step in sharing resources while improving patient care without the need for transporting the patient to Burlington. Intensivists, Dr. Gil Allen and Dr. Ryan Clouser, located at Fletcher Allen in Burlington, were able to consult with Dr. Craig from The Health Center in Plainfield while he was at the bedside of a patient in CVMC’s intensive care unit by means of a roving telemedicine unit. Intensivists are physicians with specialized training in critical-care medicine who care for patients in intensive care units.Via telemedicine, CVMC physician Dr. Philip Brown (foreground), talks with colleagues at Fletcher Allen in Burlington (from left) Ryan Clouser, M.D., intensivist, Allen Mead (dark suit) faculty practice director, Steve Leffler, M.D., chief medical officer, Anne Dixon, MD division chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Gilman Allen, MD intensivist. The roving unit is basically a computer monitor mounted on a cart with a camera on top that can transmit images and sound securely from one hospital to another. The camera at CVMC is remotely controlled from Fletcher Allen and can pan the area and focus in on the patient or the physician. According to Dr. Phil Brown, CVMC vice president of medical affairs, the roving unit is easily moved and ‘we expect to use it in the ICU and the Emergency Department to help [Fletcher Allen physicians] evaluate patients [at CVMC].’Dr. Craig was able to present the case of a patient with multiple medical problems, providing background, current test results and the current status of the patient. The intensivists, in turn, asked questions and recommended next steps. The patient enthusiastically participated in the interview with Fletcher Allen intensivists and Dr. Craig. CVMC hospitalists and ICU nursing staff were also present. Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in caring for hospitalized patients, particularly those with complicated illnesses, on a daily basis. Dr. Sarah Swift, medical director of CVMC’s hospitalists, said ‘I am excited about this new capability. It gives our hospitalists the capability to communicate more directly with Fletcher Allen’s intensivists to consult on our more difficult cases. This will enable us to provide more care locally rather than transfer the patient.’ In the fall of 2011, CVMC entered into a formal affiliation agreement with Fletcher Allen to help develop a coordinated health system in Vermont that will build on our joint efforts to deliver high-quality care to Vermonters as efficiently as possible. This agreement closely aligns the two organizations with state and federal health care reform agendas that promote enhanced integration.Implementing the roving telemedicine unit is part of an ICU improvement initiative, which is one of two quality improvement initiatives chosen by the FAP Quality Council for the upcoming year.CVMC 12.9.2011