TTUHSC Launches Telemedicine Pilot Project in Rural West Texas

This article was published & produced by HIT Consultant http://hitconsultant.net/

swyMed announced today that it has joined forces with the Commission on State Emergency Communications and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on a telemedicine pilot project to implement between EMS providers and a select group of trauma centers in rural West Texas. TTUHSC service area covers 108 counties and 131,459 sq. miles, which is larger than New York, New England, and the District of Columbia combined. The objective of the project, funded by Texas House Bill 479, is to improve patient outcomes by using telemedicine technology to bring the judgment of trauma surgeons into the back of ambulances to assess and direct treatment.

Currently, patients can be carried 30, 60, 90 minutes or more in an ambulance to the nearest hospital only to find that the facility is not equipped to handle their needs, or they can be airlifted to a Level I trauma center when their injuries could have been handled in a closer local hospital.

The telemedicine pilot project will focus on trauma, cardiac, and stroke EMS calls and is based on the idea of Remote Patient Evaluation (RPE), giving the physician the tools to see and observe the injuries and accident site so treatment can begin immediately and the patient is brought to the most appropriate destination for care, via the most appropriate means.

In the pilot, swyMed’s telemedicine equipment, including the DOT Telemedicine Backpack, is being installed in ten test ambulances, and LTE/4G cellular signal from Verizon and AT&T will be utilized to link those ambulances to both local trauma centers and University Medical Center in Lubbock.

Over the next four years as the program contract is renewed, additional ambulances and counties served will be added.  Key to this initiative will be the ability to maintain quality connectivity in these most rural counties of West Texas, which swyMed accomplishes through its patented data transport protocol, carrier redundancy and the DOT Telemedicine Backpack’s unique design including enterprise class modems and a sophisticated antenna array.

“Telemedicine technology for emergency management situations, and particularly in rural geographies, requires specialized tools with the flexibility to find and make the most of the available carrier signals,” said Stefano Migliorisi, CEO of swyMed in a statement. “swyMed is thrilled to collaborate with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to demonstrate how real-time virtual care in remote areas can bring the right resources to bear to improve patient outcomes and the efficiency of the health care delivery system.”

Publish 

Related Stories

TTUHSC Names New Regional Dean for the School of Nursing

Louise Rice, DNP, RN, has been named regional dean of the TTUHSC School of Nursing on the Amarillo campus.

A Call for Change: Addressing the Invisible Workload of School-Based SLPs

Tobias Kroll, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, discusses the workloads and expectations of school-based SLPs.

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Rural Adolescents

Leigh Ann Reel, Au.D., Ph.D., CCC-A, discussed the causes and prevention strategies for noise-induced hearing loss, particularly for adolescents in rural areas.

Recent Stories

Education

TTUHSC MAT Students Receive Coveted NFL Internships

Jill Manners, ScD, LAT, ATC, PT, NREMT, COMT, FNAP, is giving us a closer look into the NFL internship opportunities that some of the MAT students are experiencing over the summer.

Research

Collaborative Team Earns Five-Year Renewal Grant from NINDS to Continue Stroke Research

Due to this high level of productivity and potential to create new medications for stroke injury, NINDS recently awarded a new $3 million competitive renewal that extends the grant for an additional five years.

Education

Keep Pushing: PA Alumni Gives Back

Jemimah Omavuezi, DMS, MPAS, PA-C, used her own story as inspiration to create the Omavuezi Scholarship for others.