Chief of Staff of the Army, Spc. Nathan Dye, a combat medic caring for
patients seen by a virtual health provider in the Emergency Room at
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, pl... VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital launched the Army's first pilot Telehealth primary care services within BACH's Emergency Center earlier this year, and the vice chief of staff of the Army recently visited for a demonstration.
The telehealth/virtual health pilot was a process to redirect non-emergency patients from the BACH emergency center to a primary care provider at DEAMC using the Telehealth platform, which is a hub for secure integrated telemedicine encounters. The mobile medical system used video conferencing and software to capture, store and forward live medical images securely between health care providers in separate locations.
The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army and Army Deputy Surgeon General directed the pilot phase launch to prove virtual patient-centered medical home encounters can be used to reduce patient wait times in emergency departments. In addition, the objective was to determine if the concept of Telehealth primary care can be used in support of forward deployed Forces.
Before deploying to Iraq, the 101st commanding general was happy to see the pilot taking place at Blanchfield.
"Having this Telehealth pilot available at Blanchfield and the home of the 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell is exciting to see," said Maj. Gen. Gary J. Volesky, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell.
"As I walked through BACH's Emergency Center and saw the potential for this technology to expand to our troops downrange, it gives me great confidence in our medical care at all levels while our troops are deployed," Volesky said. "With the 101st standing ready to support our nation's needs on a moment's notice, we are confident when our medical teams supporting our families back home and the troops downrange are continuously expanding their capabilities."
In December 2015, the Regional Health Command -- Atlantic (Provisional) partnered with Blanchfield Army Community Hospital and Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center to conduct a proof of concept pilot to determine the feasibility of providing primary care services by using Telehealth technology.
"The goal of the pilot is to determine if virtual Patient Centered Medical Home encounters can be used to reduce patient wait times in an emergency department and to prove the concept that primary care can be used in conjunction with Telehealth in support of forward deployed Forces," explained Maj. Daniel Yourk, Nurse Methods Analyst, in BACH's Emergency Center.
BACH commander Col. Telita Crosland expressed pride in her team ensuring that this new technology used within her medical facility offers safe and quality care to patients receiving care within the emergency center.
"Telehealth has the potential to enable our health system to better meet the needs of our patients in a more efficient manner. Moving health care from within a defined medical structure to whereever the patient is would be a real game-changer for our community and organization. The opportunities are vast," Crosland said.
The successful completion of this pilot provided the Army Medical Command and the RHC-A(P) with a new approach to primary care that has several Dependable, Achievable, Replicable Telehealth (DART) goals which include:
• Improving readiness by implementing new technologies and patient care
delivery models to assist commands in achieving their medical readiness goals in both a garrison and deployed environment.
• Allow RHC-A (P) Commands to use providers among Health Readiness
Platforms (HRPs) to support surges and unforeseen service requirements with a dependable infrastructure of network technology and communications;
• Provide cost-effective, comprehensive, efficient, and timely access to quality outpatient Telehealth care regardless of the patient location.
As Crosland walked through the Telehealth pilot clinic inspecting the care carefully, she said she was impressed.
"A couple of things I find fascinating is when we utilize what we call a peripheral, there is actually a technician doing an exam. We didn't stop doing the things we needed to do to deliver safe care, we figured out how to use technology to do that."
Crosland said the team used her as an example. "They looked in my ear a little and I had never seen my own ear drum; but not only can I see it, it looks better than when I as a physician look in a more narrow field. The technology magnifies things so I can better see and make better decisions clinically."
Crosland said this is a way to open up access without sacrificing quality. "Some may argue to do it a little better because we have this technology."
According to Master Sgt. Jason Alexander, chief clinical noncommissioned officer for the RHC-A (P), "Telehealth improves access to care by creating more access in our system. If you look at it from a Regional perspective, Telehealth provides us the opportunity to leverage other resources in other facilities and create what we call an integrated delivery system."
Alexander explained that in this pilot scenario the focus is on primary care. Patients showing up after primary care hours get access to care from a primary care provider.
Alexander further explained that this brings the patient back into the Army Medical Home model to ensure the care is taken from the whole continuum. This connects patients seen in the night at BACH's Emergency Center back to their medical home.
During the first two days of Telehealth pilot offered at BACH, the team saw seven patients in the Telehealth clinic.
"All seven patients seen stated they were satisfied and their medical concern was adequately addressed during the visit," Yourk said.
According to Yourk at the end of the pilot, patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with their overall telehealth experience.
The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Daniel B. Allyn visited the pilot virtual health demonstration May 26 at Blanchfield. He said he believes this is not only important for medical professionals but also for the faith and trust that Army Soldiers and Families depend upon.
"It extends the reach of Army Medicine to the point of need and with all the low density specialties we have in medical community, it enables those specialties to be brought to bear where they are needed particularly in harms way where Soldiers are operating away from tier one medical professionals.
As Gen. Allyn has seen this technology work in Afghanistan, he explained, "This is a groundbreaking capability. Telemedicine and virtual health providers are on the leading edge of what we are going to need for the future. With an Army that is operating in a 140 countries around the world, we have to be able to bring the care they need to the point of need responsively."
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