Teleneurology Services Keep Patients in Place
A new Teleneurohospitalist Program is connecting neurological patients with a team of dedicated inpatient neurological specialists in Peoria without the need for patient transfers.
OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute created the new service to help oversee all inpatient neurological care at OSF HealthCare Saint James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center in Pontiac and OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington.
“This means patients have continuity of care and constant access to expert neurological care like never before,” said Lynn Fulton, President, OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.
This means patients have continuity of care and constant access to expert neurological care like never before.
OSF HealthCare Neurological Institute neurologists are rounding daily via telecart on all neurology patients. This comprehensive, fellowship-trained neurological care team is the superior option for neurology patients. The new service allows for patients to be treated close to home. According to OSF HealthCare Saint James Medical Center president Brad Solberg, the Teleneurohospitalist Program has been well received since it started in early January.
“Being a smaller hospital, the personal touch and the personal relationships is very important to patient experience,” explained Solberg. “And you think, is that going to be jeopardized with people talking to a screen? And the feedback has been very positive. As long as we continue to do it well, explaining the process, I don’t have any reasons to doubt that the experience is going to be nothing short of exceptional.”
Neurohospitalists set and enforce standards for neurological care in the hospital, and set consistent care plans for each patient, so care is more predictable and less variable, which means better patient outcomes.
“Just being able to share that information and that physician at the same time via telehealth is a great example of what being a part of OSF is all about,” said Solberg.
The Teleneurohospitalist Program is currently available to neurology inpatients in Pontiac and Bloomington. Patients will be referred to the program on a case-by-case basis.
The neurohospitalist providers are located in Peoria and include Arun Talkad, MD; Deepak Nair, MD; Elias Samaha, MD and Swetha Vennavavaram, MD.