Ontario Telemedicine Network makes online house calls

A government-funded Ontario organization designed to help patients get care from doctors hundreds of kilometres away received its official launch Thursday.

The Ontario Telemedicine Network, funded by provincial and federal governments, provides the technology and services needed to connect patients with doctors with approaches that include:

• Cameras and monitors for video conferencing.
• Electronic medical devices to allow doctors far away to listen to a patient's heart or look into his or her ears and nose.
• Long-distance referrals to specialistswho can see patients through teleconferencing.

It also hosts webcast educational events for medical professionals,including those inrural and remote areas.

Hospitals in London, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Toronto held simultaneous demonstrations Thursday morning to showcase some of the technologies and officially recognize the network formed whenthree smaller telemedicine networks joined on April 1CareConnect, NORTH Network and Video Care.

According to the network, those organizations provided 23,000 remote patient consultations in the past yearwith800medical specialists throughpartner organizations such as hospitals.

Patients access telemedicine from rural and urban areasaround the province through local health-care providers and organizations such as hospitals.

15-year collaboration

Network spokeswoman Jane Petricic saidone of thelongest-running telemedicine programs in the networkis a 15-year collaboration betweentheUniversity of Ottawa Heart Instituteand Pembroke General Hospital.

Through the program, she said, someone might have open heart surgery in Ottawa and go home to Barry's Bay 165 kilometres away.

The patientcould get followup carebyvisitinghis or herlocal hospital. There, telemedical technologyallows the patient to beexaminedbyhis or her Ottawa-based specialist remotely, Petricic said.

"He would be able to listen to their heart and do all of the same things he would do if he had them drive all the way into Ottawa."

Largest network

Petricic said themerger makes thenew organizationthe largest telemedicine network in Canada.

She added that thelarger infrastructure increases the amount of technology available to members and will make it easier to bring in smaller organizations such aslong-term care facilities, public health units and even doctors' offices.

The network is an independent, non-profit organization funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care along with Canada Health Infoway Inc., which is a federally funded non-profitorganization run bythe federal, provincial and territorial deputy health ministers.

According to the network, telemedicine allows improved access to doctors, nurses and emergency services while reducing the need for travel, saving money, time and travel risks.