Holton (Kan.) Community Hospital added telemedicine capabilities to its emergency room, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports.
Here are three notes on the program.
1. The virtual care program is offered through Avera eCARE Services, a telehealth provider operated by Avera Health, a Sioux Falls, S.D.-based health system. Through the program, patients and clinicians at Holton Community Hospital are able to video conference with emergency providers at Avera Health.
2. The telemedicine service provides an important resource for Holton Community Hospital, which has one provider in its ER, according to Krista Eylar, the hospital's director of nursing. Clint Colberg, MD, trauma medical director at the hospital, added the service proves helpful when multiple patients are present at the ER.
"My attention is divided two or three different ways, and I could use the additional help with another doctor helping take care of the patient until I'm freed up," Mr. Colberg told The Topeka Capital-Journal.
3. Avera eCARE Services providers also help Holton Community Hospital with transcription by filling out patient charts while on-site clinicians provide care. The Avera eCARE Services provider then faxes the documentation to Holton Community Hospital, where hospital officials scan it into the patient record.