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Bay Park Diagnostic Services Port Clinton is offering mammography patients a way to access the expertise and medical specialists at the ProMedica’s Breast Care Center without having to make the roughly 50-mile trip to Toledo.
For the past several months, the Port Clinton facility has been using InTouch – robotic telemedical technology that facilitates secure, confidential two-way video conferencing between a patient and a health care provider.
“It works in much the same way as Skype, which many people are familiar with,” said Deb Kuck director of radiology at ProMedica Bay Park Hospital. “To ensure confidentiality, the control station, located at the hospital, and the robot are connected through secure Internet and wireless technology.”
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Dr. Robin Shermis, medical director of the Breast Care
Center at Toledo Hospital, speaks with Brooke Renfro,
a technician at Bay Park Diagnostics in Port Clinton via
Touch Technology. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean) |
The robot, which rests atop a rolling stand, can be moved to accommodate the patient and permit clear, face-to-face dialogue between users. “We call it `Doc on a Stick,’” Kuck said.
InTouch is used primarily when, after review of a patient’s mammogram, it is determined that additional imaging may be needed.
“If we see something on the mammogram, we’ll ask the radiologist to take a look at it and he or she feels more testing is necessary, we connect the doctor and the patient before the patient even leaves,” Kuck said.
“The InTouch is great because, since that site is relatively remote, it may be difficult the women – or man, because they can develop breast issues – to have to drive the 50 minutes to get to Toledo Hospital,” she said. “It’s particularly helpful for seniors who may not drive or don’t have access to transportation to Toledo.
The immediacy can really decrease the ‘worry gap’ of going home, thinking about it and waiting for a call, Kuck said.
Sometimes the reading radiologist in Toledo may suggest getting other images at Port Clinton and will want to have a video conference with the patient when the imaging is done.
In cases where the radiologist feels more immediate care may be prudent, same-day services can be scheduled at the Breast Care Center. “If the patient can get to the Breast Care center that same day, we’ll go ahead and do whatever additional imaging needs to be done, which may include an ultrasound, additional mammogram films, dedicated MRI or stereotactic biopsy,” Kuck said.
“Today’s technology sure beats the old way where the report would go to their doctor, the doctor would call a surgeon, the surgeon would schedule a biopsy – that could have taken two or three weeks and the anxiety level that goes with that is horrible,” she said. “The immediacy and the face-to-face conversation really goes a long way to release that anxiety,” she said.
Dr. Robin Shermis, a breast imaging specialist and Medical Director of the Breast Care Center says speaking with patients via InTouch offers numerous advantages over having phone conversation.
“It’s much more personal,” Dr. Shermis said. “The ability to zoom in and out can help me assess the patient’s expressions – to gauge her anxiety level so we can have a detailed discussion and get her questions answered to her satisfaction.
“By the same token, she also gets to see and feel more connected to me,” he said.
“Though the InTouch in use at the Port Clinton site is currently the first one ProMedica has purchased, the potential for its use is endless, especially when there are a limited number of specialists,” Kuck said. “This really allows the doctors to be in two places at one time.”
“We can use it in many ways and we will,” she added.
Thus far, feedback has been good, Kuck said. “Patients are pleased with immediacy, not having to drive and the ability to talk face-to-face with the doc,” she said.
Dr. Robin Shermis, medical director at the Breast Care Center at Toledo Hospital, speaks with Brooke Renfro, a technician at Bay Park Diagnostics in Port Clinton via InTouch technology. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
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