Telehealth program bridges miles between specialists, patients

Imagine staying in Dyersburg and being examined by a doctor in Memphis at the same time.

Sound impossible? It isn't anymore.

Special equipment being installed at Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital will allow patients in Dyersburg to be "examined" by specialists in Memphis. Patients and doctors can talk to one another through a live video-conferencing system. A nurse here will use digital medical devices and video cameras to see inside a patient's ears, to hear their hearts beat, to examine X-rays or even to conduct ultrasounds of yet-to-be-born babies.

Live demonstrations of the telemedicine system are scheduled 1-4 p.m. Wednesday at Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital. The open house will take place in the classrooms on the hospital's lower level.

The equipment and service are being coordinated by the Mid-South Telehealth Consortium and its partners: The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis, West Tennessee Methodist Healthcare, the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, the West Tennessee Area Health Education Center and the Tennessee Department of Health. The consortium received a federal grant through the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Elizabeth Cooper, an information systems technician at the local hospital, described the telehealth equipment as a true benefit for Dyersburg-area patients.

"We'll keep those people here," she said. "They don't have to run to Memphis or Jackson. ... For our area, I think that's really good."

Beth McCullers, a program manager for the Mid-South Telehealth Consortium, said Methodist Healthcare requested that its rural hospitals be linked to the telehealth program in an effort to provide services that aren't available locally. The hospital in Brownsville was the first to join about nine months ago. The McKenzie hospital was the second and Dyersburg will be the third.

The telehealth equipment is a mobile package that can be rolled into one of five rooms with special wiring. Local patients will be seen in the outpatient clinic on the second floor.

Primary care physicians may refer patients to specialists in a variety of fields: pediatrics, behavioral health, psychiatry, dermatology, emergency services, infectious diseases, neonatal intensive care, oral pathology, sickle cell anemia, toxicology, wound care and the burn center.

Hospital nurses trained to use a variety of camera devices will essentially become the doctor's hands, McCullers said. The system comes with a hand-held dermascope camera that can be used to examine things such as wounds and rashes. A digital stethoscope monitors the patient's heartbeats. A digital otoscope can help a doctor peer inside a patient's ears, nose and throat. A document camera illuminates X-rays as well as transmits images of any 3-D object.

In the long term, McCullers said, telehealth is going to provide a big cost savings. A consultation costs the same whether a patient visits the doctor's office in Memphis or visits with the doctor through video conferencing. But, patients can save money because they won't have to travel and they won't have to take a day off work. Perhaps even more importantly: people may be more inclined to seek care. McCullers said people tend to put off medical appointments -- especially those requiring travel out of town -- until the problem gets so big they can't ignore it. She said she believes people will seek help sooner if they don't have to drive so far.

"We're also hoping this will improve the placement of doctors in rural areas," she said. One of the most common problems rural doctors have is access to the latest medical developments and training programs.

Telehealth can resolve that problem by providing educational seminars. McCullers said seminars are scheduled periodically to help doctors and nurses get the continuing education credits they need to maintain their licenses. Educational programs for patients also are broadcast on the telehealth network.

A list of upcoming programs -- and the specialties available on the network -- is available on the Web site: http://www.utmem.edu/telemedicine/. McCullers said the Web site is currently being redesigned to better designate which educational programs are designed for the general public and which are for professionals.