Telemedicine nurse care specialists hired to serve region

GUELPH

More residents living in Waterloo Wellington will benefit from specialist care closer to home as 12 new telemedicine nurses are hired to expand access to care.

For residents, this means less travel, improved access to specialized health services, and an increase in the types of health care services available at more than 67 telemedicine sites across the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

Telemedicine use for clinical services in Waterloo Wellington expanded by almost 350 per cent from 2010/2011 to 2011/2012.

Particular success has been realized in helping patients see geriatric specialists and psychiatric specialists, without having to leave their home community.

 The telemedicine nurses will use the latest technology for virtual patient consultations, assessments, training and knowledge exchange. Using telemedicine, health care professionals are able to deliver clinical care using live, two-way videoconferencing systems and related diagnostic equipment. Patients and health care practitioners are able to speak together and information such as blood pressure, respiratory function and test results can be instantaneously transmitted.

 Telemedicine services are made available through the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), a world leader in telemedicine.

OTN facilitates the delivery of care for patients in hundreds of health care locations across the province, as well as distance education and meetings for health care professionals and patients.

An independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the Government of Ontario, OTN is committed to improving access and quality of care.

 “Working with our partners in the WWLHIN, St. Joseph’s is pleased to lead this telemedicine initiative which  brings specialized clinical health care at a distance to where it’s needed - to people in Waterloo and Wellington. Our telemedicine service improves access to specialists’ care anywhere in Ontario and saves costs for patients and for the health care system,” said Marianne Walker, president of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph

The Waterloo Wellington LHIN is investing almost $1 million in new telemedicine nurses. There are currently 67 OTN sites and 108 active systems in Waterloo Wellington

For more information about OTN, visit: www.otn.ca.

September 21, 2012