***PRESS RELEASE***
Telestroke and virtual urgent care cited for improving care for underserved populations
Chicago, Ill.—On November 9, the Illinois Telehealth Network (ITN) will be honored with a statewide Excellence in Telehealth Leadership Award for Improved Care for Underserved Populations.
The honor will be presented in recognition of two Hospital Sisters Health System-led telemedicine programs at a luncheon in Chicago hosted by Partnership for a Connected Illinois and the American Telemedicine Association.
ITN’s staff, board and members will be recognized for their pioneering work in piloting services such as 24/7 emergency room tele-stroke services and direct-to-consumer virtual urgent care, including:
- HSHS Medical Group’s AnytimeCare.com, launched in May 2015, has served more than 3,000 virtual urgent care patients, helping decrease unnecessary emergency room visits, reduce costs, and facilitate follow-ups with primary care physicians.
- The 24/7 Tele-Stroke program, launched by Hospital Sisters Health System in 2014, has treated more than 1,700 stoke patients in emergency rooms throughout central and southern Illinois. One tele-stroke patient from Stewardson, Illinois was recently profiled on an ABC News Channel 20 news story.
ITN’s Executive Director, Dr. Gurpreet Mander, commented, “The Illinois Telehealth Network is honored to receive this award.”
He added, “Our network is all about increasing rural access to quality care, and it’s gratifying to be able to use telemedicine and virtual urgent care expand access to care in areas with shortages of health care professionals.”
When a stroke patient arrives in the emergency room and a neurology specialist consult is requested, response times are an average of three minutes or less—a stellar record when minutes could count in saving a life.
Tele-stroke care facilitates a patient and neurologist encounter, even though the two may be separated by hundreds of miles.
The remote presence neurologist examines the patient using sophisticated video conference and other medical equipment, speaks with clinicians and family members, reviews CT scans and other tests, and supports emergency treatment decisions with documentation in the medical record. Dr. Mander explained,
“Our tele-stroke care helps expedite treatment decisions, save lives, reduce disability, and also helps many patients avoid unnecessary transfers.”
Led by HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville and HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, tele-stroke services are provided by the following Illinois Telehealth Network hospitals:
- Boyd Memorial Hospital (Carrollton)
- Carlinville Area Hospital (Carlinville)
- Hillsboro Area Hospital (Hillsboro)
- HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (Belleville)
- HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital, formerly Shelby Memorial Hospital (Shelbyville)
- HSHS Holy Family Hospital, formerly Greenville Regional Hospital (Greenville)
- HSHS St. John’s Hospital (Springfield)
- HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital (Highland)
- HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital (Breese)
- HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital (Effingham)
- HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital (Decatur)
- HSHS St. Francis Hospital (Litchfield)
- Mason District Hospital (Havana)
- Pana Community Hospital (Pana)
The Partnership for a Connected Illinois and American Telemedicine Association Leadership Awards will be presented at a 2017 Excellence in Telehealth Leadership luncheon at 12 p.m. on November 9, 2017 to be held at the offices of McDermott Will & Emery, LLP (444 West Lake Street, Suite 4000, Chicago). Registration and sponsorship information is found at: Illinois Telehealth Leadership Awards
Press Release courtesy of Illinois Telehealth Network