Telehealth

A portable ultra-sound machine the size of an iPhone

Two weeks ago, Zach wrote about our interview with Dr. Eric Henley at North Country Health Care. While we were there, Dr. Henley introduced us to Greg Hales, the head of North Country’s Telehealth program. I am rather interested in both medicine and in technology, so I wanted to find out how providers were merging the two. Greg and I met yesterday (October 26).

First of all, let me say that I was not prepared for how cool telehealth really is. The U.S. is rather behind in mixing technology with medicine, compared with the rest of the world, but what Greg showed me was definitely neat! He talked some about what telehealth is, in general, and also showed me some of the tools North Country uses currently and some of the new tools they will be bringing in within the next few weeks.

The majority of North Country’s telehealth program is using technology to bring doctor and patient together across large distances. For example, at the satellite site in Winslow, examination rooms are hooked up with webcams and screens, so that a doctor in Flagstaff can see a patient in Winslow without either having to make the 45-minute-each-way trip. As one can imagine, this saves both parties time and money, as well as administrative headaches around scheduling and such.

One of the tools Greg plans to be implementing within the next few weeks (and which I will be able to go in and see, and potentially try out) is an examination camera that will allow the support staff with the patient to take an up-close photo of the patient and how the doctor view it on his or her screen while still being able to see the patient via the webcam.

Additionally, Greg showed me an article on a portable ultra-sound machine that GE is producing, and that is expected to hit the market sometime next year. While portable ultra-sound machines already exist, this one is the size of an iPhone (3in x 5in x 1in).

I find it amazing how the medical field is finding ways to incorporate the vast amount of technology available to us. Hopefully all of these advances will enable physicians to better serve their patients, making healthcare more accessible to those who currently do not have access to medical help.

A Rough Start

Converstation on Health Care Reform at NAU's Cline Library

This past week has been frustrating in regards to the project. We have called several people, spent many hours on the Internet looking for information about healthcare shortages, and nothing has been fruitful.

Sam and I did attend a forum on campus last Wednesday on healthcare reform. It was very informative and it sparked an interest in both of us about healthcare reform. Does Flagstaff need to literally re-form its healthcare system? Does Flagstaff suffer the same kind issues much of the country faces with its ability – or inability – to take care of the residents’ health needs? Would changing the system do us any harm even if we don’t need to fix our system?

After listening to the audio we collected from the forum, Zach agreed with me and Sam that our in-depth topic was in need of reform itself.

We weren’t finding people sources willing to talk to us and we weren’t finding any sort of a paper trail to back up what we might be able to find anyway, so we have changed topics.

Our first idea was a well-formed question, but one that lacked little room for fact; it was all conjecture and theory. So we have decided to pursue the following question: Does Flagstaff need healthcare reform or is the current system serving its people well?

For this topic, we still plan on talking to many of the same types of sources: doctors, nurses, patients and potentially administration. We hope, however, that with the change of subject, to something a little less personal (how’s the system doing for us, rather than, are you providing us with enough people to serve us), sources will be a little more open to giving us information.

I slacked…sorry

I didn’t post last Wednesday that Zach would be the host of the blog. You can find it at www.zkrings.wordpress.com

Also, this week’s host is Sam. Her blog is www.smcleish.wordpress.com – please head over there to get the latest installment of our investigative journey!

An Introduction

Flags waving in the wind outside of Flagstaff, Arizona's Medical Center

This blog is one of three in a collaboration for a senior capstone journalism course at Northern Arizona University. My teammates, Zach Krings and Sam McLeish, will be writing blogs on their sites in conjunction with mine.

Each week one of the three of us will post a blog that will attempt to further our in-depth research and reporting assignment. I will post here who is the host of the upcoming blog.

Our blog will highlight this team’s process of in-depth journalism. We will be looking at the health care system in Flagstaff, Arizona. More specifically, we will be looking at the number of medical professionals within the health care system. We are investigating a personnel shortage in Flagstaff’s medical community.

Our overall goal is to answer the following question: “If there is a shortage of medical professionals in Flagstaff, then how is patient care affected?” The group currently holds the assumption that Flagstaff is facing the same shortage of nurses and other medical personnel that many places around the country face. We are, however, prepared to find out we are wrong in our assumption. If this is the case – that there is no shortage of employees in the medical community – we will strive to answer this question: “If there is no shortage of medical professionals in Flagstaff, why not and why do many residents perceive it as such?”

With three group members, we decided to break the investigation into three angles, or directions, for trying to find answers. Sam will be looking at the administration side of the medical community, namely the monetary aspect of administration. Zach will be looking at the staff side of the community. I will be looking at the patient side of the community.

Currently, our story ideas include:

Sam:
- How has the budget affected the shortage? Have personnel taken pay cuts? Have personnel positions been eliminated, or simply not been filled?
- Which “departments” are facing the greatest shortage? Is the shortage specific to nurses? Doctors? Administrative staff?
- How are local clinics picking up the slack?
- Is FMC (Flagstaff Medical Center) accepting more volunteers to make up for the shortage in staff?
- How does FMC compare to other hospitals? Is the shortage statewide, et cetera?

Zach:
-Profile of mental health profession/nursing student.
-How is the shortage affecting the mental health field?
-Is the shortage affecting the number of students entering into med. schools or nursing programs?
-If passed, will ObamaCare worsen or help this shortage?

Christine:
- How will the shortage affect the flu season, especially in terms of swine flu?
- Is Fronske facing the same issues as FMC?
- Is patient care being impacted by a shortage of nurses, aides and doctors?
- Do clinic patients normally receive a different level of care than hospital patients? Has that changed because of the shortage?

We hope to work individually and as a team to find the answers to these questions.

Christine