Mar 12 2015
Using secure digital conferencing technology, patients can now manage their health, meet with physicians, and receive advice from Mount Sinai Health System experts – all without setting foot in a doctor’s office. These initiatives are part of Mount Sinai’s growing Telehealth offerings, which help provide comprehensive, cost-effective care through the use of technology.
“Mount Sinai’s Telehealth Program is connecting providers and patients in novel ways as we fulfill our mission of providing innovative, state-of-the-art, cost-effective care,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System.
“Technology has evolved to a point where it is less of a novelty in our doctors’ offices and more of an essential part of our physicians’ toolkits – and, indeed, an everyday part of our patients’ lives. The time has come for Telehealth to move to the next level by putting it into wider practice, and we’re proud to have done that here at Mount Sinai, which is at the forefront of the Telehealth revolution,” said Kumar Chatani, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System. The pilot Telehealth projects are overseen by the Department of Information Technology at Mount Sinai.
Among the first Telehealth pilot projects to get underway, the Primary Care Program will allow physicians in the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice to offer remote patient consults using a secure, low-cost digital connection. Aida Vega, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director, Primary Care Associates at Mount Sinai is leading this initiative that she says helps link patients and providers using technology they are familiar with.
"Telehealth is yet another access point for our patients who want to discuss their health concerns and new health problems with their own physician via a video consultation,” said Dr. Vega. “It is also an excellent way to monitor patients with chronic health problems who need more continuous follow up care.”
Telehealth initiatives are enabling providers and patents to connect across many departments in new ways . For instance, patients can now consult remotely with physicians through the TeleStroke program under the leadership of Aaron Tansy, MD, the Director of the Stroke Program at Mount Sinai Queens (MSQ). The physicians can also directly consult with their colleagues at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan providing a broader scope of expertise to help diagnose and treat patients.
Another Telehealth program in partnership with a community healthcare center in upstate New York enables patients from rural areas to directly consult with Mount Sinai Health System pediatric epilepsy specialists. Steven Wolf, MD, Director, Pediatric Epilepsy and Co-Director, Epilepsy Unit, Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Director of Pediatric Neurology, Mount Sinai St. Luke's Roosevelt, in collaboration with Patricia McGoldrick, NP, MPA initially meet with patients in person followed by subsequent Telehealth encounters.
This technology is also extending to the Emergency Department (ED) where a program has been launched to reduce readmissions and provide better patient outcomes by allowing healthcare professionals to communicate via Telehealth with chronically ill patients in their homes before their symptoms cause them to seek care in the ED.
About Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health system has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services – from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.
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