Jared and Kristina Burns went through a harrowing experience: Their sick child was airlifted out for specialized care. That encounter led them to write a letter to Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. In it, they requested that the organization implement a telemedicine tool so infants and kids could get better access to specialized care during emergencies.
Providence St. Mary liked the idea, and more than a year and a half later, the pieces were in place. The medical center is now a pilot site to bring telemedicine neonatologists and pediatric intensivists to Walla Walla, according to a news release.
Previously, the medical team aiding a critically ill child would use the phone to consult with distant specialists. Through a new telehealth robot, the specialist can see the child and interact with the family and medical team. The telemedicine neonatologists and intensivists, who are available 24 hours a day, are from Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital and MedNax in Spokane, Washington. The same specialist can then care for the pediatric patient if he or she is transported to Sacred Heart.
The telehealth doctors can also give virtual guidance when a child needs specialized care but can’t be airlifted out immediately.
“This supports the care the child needs,” Dr. Christopher Hall, a pediatrician and the CMO of Providence St. Mary, said in a statement. “It also supports the pediatricians here. The pediatricians in Walla Walla operate at a very high level, but there are very complex, sometimes rare, conditions that require specialists, such as a baby born with an unusual abnormality.”
Ultimately, the goal of the telehealth program is to ensure the medical team has specialized assistance so they can give the child the best possible care.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The Burns family also decided to make a donation to fund the initiative.
“Our family’s desire to do something stems from our feeling of helplessness with our own children needing specialty care,” Jared Burns said in a news release. “St. Mary provides good care, but we didn’t have the specialty care. Had (telemedicine) been available, I think our children might have been able to stay in Walla Walla.”
Photo: JanWillemKunnen, Getty Images
