Originally created as a way for patients in rural or remote places to access needed medical care, telemedicine has become a convenient medical tool for basic and emergent cases. Wise Health System provides several telemedicine services, including Stroke-Neuro Telemedicine, CCU Telemedicine, TeleER and Wise eHealth’s school-based telemedicine program.
Behaviorial Health TelePsychiatry
Started in 2016, the Behavioral Health TelePsychiatry program at Wise Health System allows patients continued to specialists. In this program, patients in the Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit may be consulted with remotely by the attending psychiatrist to provide ongoing evaluation and support.
Bariatric Registered Dietitian
The Bariatric Registered Dietitian telehealth program started in April of 2017. The program allows Registered Dietitians employed at the My Bariatric Solutions clinic in Decatur to provide nutrition counseling and support to bariatric patients in remote locations, including the Waco clinic. Potentially, the program will allow for consults with patients in the Fort Worth and Abilene clinic as well.
The goal of the bariatric registered dietitian telehealth program is to provide convenient access to nutrition counseling, and also reduce the amount of travel necessary.
CCU Telemedicine
Similar to the Stroke-Neuro program, the CCU Telemedicine program at Wise Health System allows for communication between critical care patients, nursing staff, and medical providers.
Providers can provide “eyes-on” care, even when they are not on-site. Nursing staff can easily and immediately access a provider through the telemedicine machine to have a patient evaluated in an emergency or when there is a change in their condition.
Stroke-Neuro Telemedicine
The pilot telemedicine project at Wise Health System, the Stroke-Neuro Telemedicine program, began in 2012. This program is used for acute and emergent situations and allows quicker access to specialized stroke neurologists. Wise Health System staff can dial into a neurologist around the clock at the Texas Stroke Institute who specializes in stroke recognition and management, for an immediate opinion about treatment options.
The stroke neurologist can perform an immediate visual assessment, shortening wait time. The quicker and more accurately the patient is treated within the first few hours of a stroke, the better the outcome for the patient.
TeleER
The goal of the TeleER Telemedicine program at Wise Health System is to provide access to specialty pediatric care through the emergency room.
The pediatric TeleER program provides the opportunity to consult specialists not available locally, helping to avoid unnecessary travel and expenses and helping the family to focus on their child. When necessary, it also allows for the potential transfer to facilities that offer higher levels of pediatric care.
TeleNICU
For newborns born at Wise Health System who need advanced neonatal care, the Tele NICU program at Wise Health System links providers to specially trained, board-certified neonatologists at Children’s Health System of Dallas.
This technology allows advanced care to begin sooner and may prevent or delay the need for transfer. This leads to better outcomes and reduced stress for families of critically ill newborns.
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Wise eHealth
Wise eHealth’s School-Based Telehealth Services is a community outreach program that partners with local schools connecting a child at school to a doctor or nurse practitioner at Wise eHealth.
The goal of this program is to keep kids in school and learning, which can also keep parents from having to leave work to go to the doctor’s office, decrease unnecessary ER visits, and help kids get well sooner.
eHealth visits include a full exam, medications prescribed when needed (at low cost to parents), and an after-visit summary for both the parent and the child’s regular doctor.
This service is not a replacement for a primary care provider, but more like an urgent care clinic at school and aims to help families find and establish a local primary care provider for their children if they don’t already have one.