Overview
Grants Overview
MAINE, Penobscot County
Improving Rural Maine's Critical Access to Emergency & Chronic Disease Care Through Telehealth/Monitoring
Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems
TNGP FY 06-09
Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems
43 Whiting Hill Rd.
Brewer, ME 04412-1005
http://www.rmcl.org/
Erik Steele, DO
Wanda Pacifici
Ph: 207-973-7700
Fax: 207-973-5640
Email: wpacifici@emh.org
Network Partners:
Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems; Eastern Maine Medical Center; Acadia Hospital; Eastern Maine HomeCare; EMS; The Aroostook Medical Center; Inland Hospital; Blue Hill Memorial Hospital; Mayo Regional Hospital and Sebasticook Valley Hospital; Redington-Fairview and Penobscot Bay Medical Center-Network formed 1996.
Project Purpose:
To provide patient-centered care to rural residents in northern, central, and eastern Maine through effective use of telehealth technology, linking care between providers to reduce ED visits and re-hospitalizations; stabilizing and improving care provided by Critical Access Hospitals within EMHS' service area.
Outcomes Expected/Project Accomplishments:
To improve emergency access to trauma & orthopedic specialists to reduce ratio of unnecessary transfers from CAH & improve patient's outcomes transferred after telemedicine communication. Reduce medical errors in treatment of injured trauma patients. Improve trauma & orthopedic consultations access for follow-up. Improve self-management of glucose control. Improve emergency access to pediatric critical care specialists.
Service Area:
EMMC and Acadia Hospital: Penobscot County; TAMC and Eastern Maine Homecare: Aroostook County; SVH & Redington-Fairview: Somerset County; Inland Hospital: Kennebec County; Blue Hill Memorial Hospital: Hancock; Mayo Regional: Piscataquis County and Penobscot Bay: Knox County.
Services Provided:
Diabetes Care and Management; Mental Health; Remote Patient Monitoring and Trauma/Emergency Medicine.
Equipment:
Remote sites: 5 Polycom videoconferencing units, 10 Tandberg videoconferencing units. Home monitoring equipment: 32 ATI units, 7 AMD units; Tandberg MPS800 Bridge
Transmission:
Full T1 lines, ISDN and IP (Internet protocol) to hospitals, Internet, POTS to homes Vendors used: Polycom and Tandberg
MAINE, Washington County
Maine Nursing Home Telehealth Network
Regional Medical Center at Lubec
RTGP 97-99, RTGP 00-02, TNGP FY 03-05
Regional Medical Center at Lubec
43 S. Lubec Rd.
Lubec, ME 04652
www.rmcl.org
Carol Carew, RN, MBA
Ph: 207-733-5541
Fax: 207-733-2947
Email: ccarew@rmcl.org
Network Partners:
Participants include six nursing homes, five primary care providers, specialist physicians in pain management, wound care, allergy/immunology, occupational medicine, a mental health counselor, and distance education providers such as the Maine Alzheimer Association and an emergency preparedness expert. For OCT 05-SEP 06, 19 patients received 39 clinical consults; expected for OCT 06-SEP 07, 25 patients and 50 consults.
Project Purpose:
1) To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of delivery of primary and specialty care services to rural nursing home patients by telemedicine. 2) To enhance the capacity of nursing home staff to deliver effective care through distance education. 3) To improve patient well-being through communication with their family members using POTS-based videophones.
Outcomes Expected/Project Accomplishments:
For 3 years ending SEP 06, 104 clinical telemedicine consults were delivered, including 38 for wound care, 57 for mental health, 2 for pain management, and 7 for primary care. Surveys revealed patients and providers were highly satisfied with specialty care, which usually would not have been accessible due to travel distances and associated costs. Staff distance education, covering 38 topics with 323 participants, was highly valued. Primary care telemedicine and use of videophones for patient-family links were judged not feasible due to implementation barriers.
Service Area:
Five of the nursing homes are located in two large entirely rural counties in northern (Washington, Aroostook) and one in a largely non-rural county (Androscoggin); two key specialist providers in wound care and pain management are in southern Maine, 4-6 hours distance from the rural facilities.
Services Provided:
Telemedicine services were developed for primary care, wound care, pain management, mental health counseling, occupational health, and allergy/immunology. Providers could not be found for geriatric psychology, dermatology, and pulmonology. Monthly distance education for nursing home staff was provided. Videophones were provided for linking patients with distant families.
Equipment:
ISDN-based PolyCom Viewstations with AMD 2500 hand held cameras; AMD videophones.
Transmission:
ISDN at 128 K to 384 K over leased lines for video. POTS lines for videophones.
MAINE, Washington County
Northeast Telehealth Resource Center
Regional Medical Center at Lubec
TRC FY 06-09
Maine Telemedicine Services
43 S. Lubec Rd.
Lubec, ME 04652
www.rmcl.org
Carol Carew, RN, MBA
Ph: 207-733-1090 Ext 2196
Fax: 207-733-2847
Email: ccarew@rmcl.org
Network Partners:
Partners of HealthCare Systems, Boston, MA (Joe Turnello, Co-PI, Partners Telemedicine)-network of 75 sites including 7 Harvard affiliated hospitals; 1,200 clinical consults in 2005 University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington VT (Terry Rabinowitz, Co-PI, Fletcher Allen Health Care Telemedicine Program)-36 sites including 13 hospitals in VT & NY. In Maine, applicant contracts with various organizations in an open network of over 300 sites.
Project Purpose:
The Northeast Telehealth Resource Center will provide educational, technical, and coordination support and guidance to health care organizations in the 7 northeast states seeking to develop, expand, or improve the effectiveness of telemedicine programs. An additional focus will be on helping collaboratives seeking to enhance regulatory and reimbursement policies.
Outcomes Expected/Project Accomplishments:
Documented linkage of TRC efforts to: development of new rural telehealth access sites, new clinical telehealth services, increased access to continuing medical education, and improved Medicaid and private payor reimbursement policies.
Service Area:
The Regional Medical Center at Lubec (Washington County, ME), Partners HealthCare (Suffolk County, MA), and the University of Vermont School of Medicine (Chittenden County, VT) will collectively serve all counties of the seven northeast states: ME, MA, VT, NH, NY, CT, RI.
Services Provided:
Technical, educational, and clinical development assistance in telehealth for clinical outpatient specialty care, emergency medicine, nursing home specialty care, store and forward applications, home health care, telehealth network operations, e-health, medical education by distance education, telecommnications, reimbursement issues, and program evaluation.
Equipment:
Project partners use Polycom units and an Accord bridge, capable of conferencing with clients by ISDN or IP. A satellite receiver is available for accessing C-band educational transmissions.
Transmission:
ISDN at 128K to 384K over leased lines for video; IP on T1 or institutional WANs; POTS lines for home telehealth.
