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Click to learn more about what Telehealth means for the physician.
Benefits to Long Term care
Cost - Significantly reduces transportation cost; reduce costs due to inefficient use of staff who accompany patients on medical visits
 
Access - Physician specialists accessible without the need for patient transport; in many situations eliminate the need for physicians to take "after hours" calls; on-site triage by ER staff in urgent situations
 
Quality - Decreased risk of injury and disorientation for patients (normally associated with transport); more able to provide required preventative screenings and health exams; improve staff quality by overcoming the logistical difficulty of arranging training and educational programs
 
Documentation - Integrated EMR; real-time electronic/visual records can improve the defense of the physician and nursing staff actions
 
Other potential benefits include helping form affiliations with local hospitals and physicians; enhanced marketing by making the facility more attractive; family videoconferencing increases morale.

 

The nearly 17,000 long-term care facilities in the U.S. constantly strive to find ways to offer better care and better quality of life to the hundreds of thousands of residents they care for. This task grows ever more challenging because the supply of trained healthcare professionals who provide care to the chronically ill is shrinking. Access to specialists is limited, especially in rural nursing homes; 35% of the nation's nursing homes are located in non-metropolitan counties accounting for 500,000 certified beds, or about 29% of the total supply of long-term care beds, of which over half are certified for Medicare participation. So how are facility administrators who are under constant pressure to improve the quality of care as well as strengthen facility financial performance supposed to accomplish these goals in this challenging environment?

DTN's telehealth solution offers the opportunity to address these challenges by providing immediate access to physician specialists hundreds or thousands of miles away, without any travel involved. Our established physician specialist network includes specialists recommended by primary care doctors to replicate existing referring patterns (Tier 1) and specialists from academic medical centers and medical groups (Tier 2). A solution that improves the quality of care and patient safety while significantly decreasing cost.

For example, based on a study in Journal of Gerontological Nursing, January 27, 2001 ("Evaluating the cost of one telehealth application connecting an acute and long-term care setting"), chronic care wound consultation at a rural nursing home:
     Cost via telehealth solution = $136.16
     Cost of traditional face-to-face consult requiring transport = $246.28
     Saving > 55%

However, since 2001 costs have increased dramatically so savings could be even greater. The following illustrates estimated transportation cost saving assuming 50% replacement of trips by use of the DTN telehealth solution:

A Telehealth End Point (TEP), or mobile "exam room", that includes a moveable color video camera used in conjunction with selected digital medical equipment peripherals, is set up at each site with a direct link to specialty physicians. It enables physicians located in larger urban areas to diagnose many types of medical conditions without the need to transport the patient. It also allows local caregivers to give urgent care quickly.

As a low cost solution DTN allows long-term care facilities to reap the benefits of telehealth without any financial barrier to entry. If you would like to explore this opportunity in more detail please call us at 949-553-0887 or even Request a Telehealth Assessment.

ATA - American Telemedicine AssociationTIE - Telemedicine Information Exchange