oriented man, who’d recently had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, had been in an automobile accident. Dr. Curran ordered a computed tomography (CT) scan, which showed a swelling where the tumor was removed. He called the patient’s neurosurgeon 60 miles away, and they both examined the CT scan using an EHR system. “Working together, we decided to start the patient on medi- cation and admit him to the hospital. Using technology, we were able to avoid transferring the patient, saving the system a great deal of money and ensuring quality, safe care. That’s telemedicine at its best,” Dr. Curran said.
Sidney Ontai, MD, a Plainview family physician and mem- ber of the TMA Ad Hoc Committee on Health Information Technology, has used telemedicine since 2001. He uses vid- eoconferencing technology to care for established patients 60 miles away in the small towns of Turkey, Earth, and Hart. “I see the same kinds of patients there for the same problems that I see in my garden-variety family practice. The patients themselves tend to present more for urgent care problems, but I do some chronic disease management, as well. My model has always been to have the telemedicine visit be the same as a regular face-to-face visit,” he said.
Dr. Ontai’s telemedicine clinics have full-time medical as- sistants, certified nursing assistants, and registered nurses who are distant site presenters. They check patients’ vital signs, take photos, and perform lab tests.
“The fact is my documentation is actually better in the tele- medicine clinic. When I look into a patient’s ear or auscultate their heart, my distant site presenter takes a picture of the otoscope image, and a digital file of the image is stored per- manently in the patient’s record,” he said. Ms. Robinson says telemedicine is full of opportunity for physicians who embrace technology to facilitate patient care. “When telemedicine is practiced in alignment with board rules, it provides a great way for physicians to reach patients who do not have access to care. It’s also a good way to connect patients in remote parts of the state to specialists,” she said. n
Crystal Zuzek is an associate editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach her by telephone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1385, or (512) 370-1385; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at
crystal.zuzek@texmed.org.
22 TEXAS MEDICINE June 2013
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