Shannon Medical Center and Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, are proud to announce a first-of-its-kind program, offering West Texas families immediate access to complete care via telemedicine, said a press release Tuesday. Physicians at Shannon are now able to consult a wide array of board certified pediatric specialists from Cook Children’s about diagnoses and treatment plans for all hospitalized, pediatric patients. For patients’ families, this means less travel and expense to get a specialized opinion concerning their children’s medical needs.
“We have a group of highly-trained pediatricians at Shannon,” said Doug Schultz, MD, Shannon Clinic Chief Medical Officer. “But, from time-to-time, we might need the help of a pediatric ‘super specialist.’ This innovative technology allows us to have a formal consult on the patient with the specialist at Cook’s. Whether they are a pediatric cardiologist, intensivist, neurologist or surgeon, the specialists are able to see the patient over the telemedicine monitor, in real-time like a video conference.”
The telemedicine unit transmits information over a secure Wi-Fi connection. Additionally, the unit is mobile allowing it to be transported to various locations throughout the hospital such as the pediatric unit or the ER. Care teams are available 24/7.
Using the technology in this manner could reduce the possibility of transporting patients to a higher level facility. A real-time, visual consult might reveal an area of concern is less severe than originally thought, allowing the patient and their family to stay home instead of being transported.
“We want the children of San Angelo and surrounding communities to be able to receive everything they medically need in San Angelo,” stated Kim Epperson, Director of Telemedicine and Virtual Health at Cook Children’s. “We know this partnership will make a big difference for families by limiting time away from family and work through easier access to the highest quality of care.”
The funding for the service is provided by the Children’s Miracle Network at Shannon Medical Center. The organization raises funds to enhance care for all pediatric patients treated at Shannon.
“Telemedicine is an added benefit to the care we already have in place at Shannon,” Dr. Schultz noted. “We see this form of medicine becoming more prevalent in the future and are excited to be the first to use it in our area.”
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