One of the most challenging things about highly contagious and dangerous diseases like the Ebola virus is figuring out how to deliver care without risking it spreading to others. A Nebraska medical center is using telemedicine to treat a patient with Ebola as a viable way to deliver care in an acute setting. It’s a move that reflects a broader trend of how hospitals are implementing telemedicine for acute care.
Vidyo’s video conferencing platform is being used in the 10-year old Biocontainment Patient Care Unit at The Nebraska Medical Center to help treat Dr. Richard Sacra. The unit is one of four in the country equipped to handle these cases. The Massachusetts physician contracted Ebola in Liberia where he worked in child delivery. The video conference unit has been used to help doctors treating Sacra interact with him and connect with his wife — pictured reading a book to him. The Omaha, Nebraska medical center has worked with Hackensack, New Jersey-based Vidyo since 2011, according to Vidyo Strategic Marketing Vice President Mark Noble.
In a phone interview, he told MedCity News that telemedicine applications for acute care, particularly tele-ICU, have taken off in the past year. “To be honest, a couple of years ago infectious diseases weren’t an application we had in mind,” but since the Ebola virus has become an international issue, it’s one area that is drawing attention. Schools are also looking at how to use video conferencing as a way of extending schooling to sick kids at home to avoid the spread of infections at school. Tele-ICU is seen as a way to help hospitals cope with fewer intensivists on staff by establishing centralized monitoring facilities, usually with a regional hospital, so fewer intensivists can monitor more patients, particularly for the overnight hours.
