Clearing the Hurdles 1: How to Set-up Telemedicine at Your Hospital

Many U.S. hospitals are realizing strong returns on their investments in telemedicine. Staffing gaps are filled, patient transfers are reduced, and Leapfrog scores as well as other metrics are on the uptick. And by the way, their staffing costs have gone down. Despite the success stories, other hospitals struggle, for a variety of reasons, over the question of whether to implement telemedicine. In this new series of blog posts, we’ll cover the strategic and tactical challenges that often arise when a hospital is considering a telemedicine program, and we’ll offer tips on how to meet them. In this first installment, we discuss some of the strategic challenges involved in making the case for telemedicine and encouraging its adoption by a hospital or health system.

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What Makes a Good Telemedicine Physician? Three Essential Qualities

Solid technology is the foundation of any successful telemedicine program, but there is another vital factor, of course: physicians. At Eagle, we hear a lot of praise for the ones who are part of our team, for their ability to make a personal connection with patients, families, and staff―no matter how great the geographical distance between them. That connection doesn’t happen by accident.

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How to Stem the Tide of Transfers from Rural Hospitals

Telemedicine is a rewarding field to be in for many reasons. We make healthcare easier to access for patients and their families. We’re saving doctors from burnout. We help hospitals find a sustainable solution to complex challenges. It’s extremely gratifying to be part of an industry that does so much good. Take, for example, the recent upsurge in the number of rural county hospital leaders who raise legitimate concerns about patient transfers and don’t know how to stop the outflow, or “outmigration” as we’ve heard it referred to.

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Best Telemedicine in the ICU Boosts Census and Leapfrog Scores

Telemedicine’s value to hospitals is demonstrated every day. In Emergency Departments (EDs), where stroke patients get the timely treatment they need in their local community hospitals without having to be transferred to a distant referral hospital. On the floor, where rounding stays on a timely schedule. In the boardroom, where examples of patient and staff satisfaction, as well as bottom-line benefits, are frequently heard. The ICU is another area where telemedicine is significantly changing how healthcare is delivered―for the better.

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Considering Telemedicine Consult Services? Don’t Wait For a Crisis

With our history of providing telemedicine services to hospitals for nearly a decade, it’s interesting to see the change in the industry, the growing acceptance of telemedicine by patients, providers and—slowly but surely—payers. It’s also interesting to observe the changes in how we talk about what we do. Ten years ago, we spent much of our time talking with hospital executives about why they needed us. Today, it’s more a question of when.

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Preparing a Patient for Telemedicine: An Onsite Clinician’s View

Telemedicine’s acceptance among patients and providers is rapidly growing across the country. Many factors have made it possible: the quality and value of programs like Eagle’s, the dependable “always on” technology that can deliver physician expertise to hospitals anywhere, and the widespread acceptance of technological devices in our lives today. All these things have helped make telemedicine a sensible choice for more and more hospitals.

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2018: Expect the Best Year Yet for Inpatient, Virtual Telemedicine

Healthcare publication editors frequently ask for my predictions about inpatient telemedicine in the coming year. You may have seen one of those guest posts published last month in Electronic Health Reporter. I’ve recapped the predictions below, but to sum them up in one line: It’s going to be another good year for telemedicine―perhaps the best yet. Momentum has been building for the increased acceptance of telemedicine in the hospital setting.

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2017: A Good Year for Telemedicine

This same time last year I wrote about the growing acceptance of telemedicine, but in looking back at 2017, I believe “acceptance” is no longer the right word. It’s more accurate to say that hospitals, providers and patients are embracing telemedicine with gusto. It’s a solution for many of today’s most pressing challenges.

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