2012 Archive

UHC Partners with PMG to Provide Telehematology/Oncology Services

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Created on Wednesday, 18 July 2012 16:19

Union Hospital’s Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, along with Dr. Sang Huh and Dr. Ryan Gonzales are proud to announce the expansion of Union Hospital Clinton’s (UHC) telemedicine program to include hematology and oncology services. Through a generous grant offered from HRSA’s Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT), the Lugar Center was able to partner with UHC and the two physicians to offer consultations for patients with cancer and other blood disorders through a secure, two-video interaction known as telemedicine.

Like the other telemedicine specialties offered at UHC, consults can be ordered by the patient’s family physician, hospitalist, or emergency room provider. Once the order is received, nursing staff gather and send important patient information to the specialists before the video interaction with the patient at UHC takes place. During the consult, patients are placed in front of a device that looks very much like a television screen which allows patients to see, here, and speak to the specialist just as if they were at the bedside. The specialists are also able to hear heart tones and breath sounds through a digital stethoscope that the UHC nursing staff operate during the consult. After the consult is complete, the physician sends any new orders or recommendations to UHC.

According to Lynn Adams, FNP “The challenge of specialty physicians’ is being able to balance the time spent on the road and time spent in the office with their patients”. Adams went on to say that “Telemedicine offers the physicians’ time in the office and meaningful outreach to rural patients, it is the best of both worlds”.

Since starting their telemedicine in 2007, UHC has grown an impressive telemedicine program that includes the following specialties: behavioral health, cardiology, pulmonology, and nephrology, which made adding this specialty a seamless fit.