Telemedicine Use In The Emergency Room

Telemedicine is now prevalent in most hospital emergency rooms, therefore the hospital wants to ensure proper training and use of the telemedicine equipment. The hospital has noted nominal use of the telemedicine equipment even though there has been a rise in neurology admissions through the emergency room. The hospital understands that simply providing telemedicine equipment in the emergency room does not necessarily guarantee proper use. There are concerns that the equipment may not be used due to emergency room personnel feeling uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the telemedicine equipment. The objective of this policy is to address the continuing education and training on the telemedicine equipment by emergency room personnel for patient consults and staff education. “It is imperative that we continue to train and educate our emergency room personnel on the telemedicine equipment, as the comfort level with the equipment increases, so does the usage” (Hess, 2010). In addition, this policy will identify the roles of emergency room personnel as it relates to the telemedicine equipment. The emergency room personnel should be able to demonstrate a basic skillset in order to reduce anxiety over use of new equipment and to assist in the workflow of neurology patients. The hospital will ensure that all emergency room personnel that have a responsibility to use the telemedicine equipment get continuing education at set intervals and on an as needed basis in order to utilize the equipment in a safe and effective manner. The hospital’s telemedicine equipment is designed to connect emergency room personnel with an on call neurologist for a patient consult so the neurologist may examine, diagnose and recommend treatment for patients that e...

... middle of paper ...

...a lottery chance based on the emergency department personnel, and more a standard of care for all patients. Telemedicine in the emergency room is a great tool for healthcare providers and with increased training and usage of the equipment the unknown will be removed from the equation decreasing the outliers. Training will diminish anxiety and promote a defined process for telemedicine consults.

References

Misra, U. K., Kalita, J. J., Mishra, S. K., & Yadav, R. K. (2005). Telemedicine in neurology:

Underutilized potential. Neurology India, 53(1), 27-31.

Talking with Hess, D. (personal communication, November 15, 2010) Georgia Health Sciences

University, Augusta, GA.

Zanaboni, P., & Wootton, R. (2012). Adoption of telemedicine: from pilot stage to routine delivery. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 12(1), 1-9. doi:10.1186/1472-

6947-12-1