In an article by Modern Healthcare on the role telemedicine can play in infection control, author Jessica Kim Cohen quotes Corporate Insight analyst Jose Santana.
New telemedicine strategies help hospitals address COVID-19
When the first U.S. patient with COVID-19 sought medical care at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Wash.) in February, there were a host of concerns: providing high-quality care, keeping up-to-date on emerging information and reducing other patients’ exposure to the virus, not to mention minimizing exposure among the hospital’s own medical staff.
Infection control is an area where telemedicine carts proved essential. The carts allowed workers roll video cameras and other telemedicine equipment into a patient’s room so a physician could check in without physically being at the bedside.
“We had people outside the room talking to the patient, evaluating them with the (electronic stethoscope) and keeping those communication lines open,” said Dr. Todd Czartoski, chief medical technology officer at Providence. That meant “the hospitalists, infectious disease doctor and other specialists didn’t have to gown up and go in and out of the room multiple times a day.”
