UPMC is experiencing a growth spurt in telemedicine as the hospital network expands use of the technology to consumers seeking urgent care or consultation with a doctor or nurse.
Telemedicine is shaping up to be the next big thing in health care and UPMC is establishing a beachhead in the new model of care, increasing the number of patient visits by 49 percent to 10,000 visits in 2013 when compared to 2012. In addition, UPMC has dramatically reduced unnecessary hospital readmissions through the use of remote monitoring, said Dr. Andrew Watson, a colorectal surgeon and medical director of UPMC’s Center for Connected Medicine.
“The model is really exciting because it means patients don’t have to go to the emergency room,” Watson said. “Most important, for a system like UPMC, this is a care coordination tool, an access to health care tool.”
In early results using live video interactive monitoring, hospital readmissions for patients with congestive heart failure were reduced to just 5 percent when coupled with visiting nurse care compared to 28 percent without the electronic monitoring. In addition, UPMC is expanding the number of employers served with on-site medical clinics, which electronically link employees at the jobsite to a treating physician.
Date: May 23, 2014