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The clinic combines in-person visits and remote connections to provide a wide range of care that our patients wouldn’t get unless they traveled. Telemedicine has been a great advancement for rural communities. Instead of a long, expensive trip to a big city, the exam feels just like going to see your provider at your local clinic because you are going to your local clinic” says Frank. “The technology isn’t the most important thing about TVSC,” Frank continues, “We have an amazing group of local specialists who provide services to ODCHC’s low-income and publicly-insured patients at the clinic. These are patients who wouldn’t otherwise have access to specialists in this area. By combining our local resources with the people we can reach using telemedicine we have greatly expanded the type of care on which our patients and our primary care providers can rely.” Over the years, Open Door has worked to expand its use of technology. All ODCHC sites have the ability to connect patients with services available in other parts of the state through telemedicine. “Now patients in Willow Creek or Crescent City don’t even need to travel to Eureka to see a specialist. Things have improved over the years and the connection is just like making a phone call.” TVSC is also a resource to other rural areas that don’t have access to specialists. Using telehealth technology, TVSC provides 23 other community health centers with access to ODCHC specialists. “We help patients in clinics as far away as Blythe. Can you get much farther away from Humboldt County and still be in California? We don’t need to do it very often, but it is very reassuring to
Telemedicine Coordinator Darlene Coop
Telehealth & Visiting Specialist Center staff outside the clinic in Eureka
those clinics to know we are available,” Frank says. “Our specialists are excited to be able to use this technology. They move from exam room to exam room. Sometimes there is a patient sitting on the exam table and sometimes there is a face on the television screen. Their ability to provide quality service is the same.” Behind the scenes, medical assistant Darlene Coop keeps it all running smoothly. “The technology has really improved. The quality of the connection is much better than it used to be. We can also take pictures to send to some of our specialists,
4 OPEN DOOR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS SPECIAL SECTION • THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011
including our dermatologist and our ophthalmologist. This makes the process convenient for the patients and we get the results very quickly.” That is only part of Darlene’s job. She makes sure the appointments are scheduled, the medical records gathered, the patient comfortable in the room, and then makes sure that the recommendations of the specialists are explained to the patient and to the patient’s primary care provider. “While my days are never the same, making sure that communication happens is always my priority.” In addition to her group sessions,
Linda Cade uses telemedicine for some of her individual consultations. “At first I was nervous to work in front of a screen, but what I see is not the screen, I see my patients. I also see the value of this technology. I was working with a teenager who lives in the eastern Sierras. He was newly diagnosed with diabetes and his treatment plan wasn’t working for him. In the middle of our telemedicine session, with him some 300 miles away, I saw him begin to have a seizure. No one had been aware that he was having these seizures. Not only was I able to immediately contact his primary care provider, who was just outside the exam room and able to provide assistance, but now we knew more about his illness and his need for care. We were able to get him on the right treatment plan. Instead of a teenager with no hope for the future, I now see a young man in control of his health and enjoying his life. That is precisely the remarkable work that makes the specialty services, and the use of telemedicine, so invaluable.” ❖