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A Special Thank ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY

You to the June
Advancing Patient Care with Telemedicine

2019 Host of the
Support for telemedicine is mobile device to meet patients. Cleveland Clinic in Ohio devel-
South Florida gradually building across with a doctor by video oped a tele-ICU program called eHospital,
365 days a year.
Florida and the nation.
which allows Cleveland-based board-certi-
According to the American Nearly 3,000 patients fied intensivists to remotely monitor the
Healthcare Hospital Association, three in Florida have used sickest patients from a command center
out of four U.S. hospitals con- Express Care Online between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. They oversee
Networking Group nect using video or remote since it was first intro- ICU beds within our community hospitals
monitoring technologies. In duced, two-thirds of in Ohio as well as our Florida hospital in
Florida, legislators passed a whom are women. Weston. Through early intervention, we’ve
bill this year that establishes Acute sinusitis and increased quality of care and reduced
new telehealth practice stan- acute upper respiratory length of stay in our ICUs.
dards and allows out-of-state infection are the two In Florida, our team of cardiac electro-
providers to extend their tele- leading diagnoses fol- physiologists provide long-term remote
health services to Florida res- BY WAEL K. lowed by urinary tract follow-up and remote monitoring of
idents. BARSOUM, MD infection and acute patients who have pacemakers,
NORTH SHORE Cleveland Clinic has been bronchitis. implantable cardioverter defibrillators,
MEDICAL CENTER moving rapidly in recent Physicians in our and cardiac resynchronization therapy
years to incorporate telemed- orthopaedic surgery devices. They also use remote surveillance
icine in our delivery of healthcare services and neurosurgery departments in Florida of injectable subcutaneous cardiac moni-
For information about
in pursuit of the triple aim -- enhancing have been conducting post-operative vir- tors for diagnostic rhythm monitoring,
our next meeting of patient care, improving the health of pop- tual visits for the past year, making care atrial fibrillation management, and crypto-
ulations, and reducing the cost of care. more convenient and easily accessible for genic stroke.
SFHNG,
Telemedicine, in the form of virtual visits patients. When appropriate, patients are In addition, our cardiologists are using a
please email and the use of remote patient monitoring, able to video conference from their home mobile app to monitor telemetry data for
allows us to deliver care that is cost-effec- or office with their surgeon in the weeks or hospitalized patients. This data is integrat-
charles@
tive and efficient while maintaining our months following a procedure, such as ed with our electronic medical record sys-
southfloridahospitalnews.com patient safety and quality standards. total joint replacement, as part of routine tem, providing all our physicians with
follow-up care. access. Our goal for remote monitoring is
Virtual Visits Last month, we also began conducting to provide the most efficient, high quality
In 2015, Cleveland Clinic partnered follow-up virtual visits for patients under- care that supports the best outcome and
with American Well to connect patients going non-surgical orthopaedic treat- patient experience.
with healthcare providers via a download- ments, as well as within the endocrinology
able app to receive advice for minor health department. Plans are in place to roll-out Telemedicine Roadblocks
issues. Available any time of day or night, virtual visits in other departments in the Two major federal bills passed last year
Cleveland Clinic’s Express Care Online coming months. included elements to broaden access to
THE REGION’S MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS
allows patients to use their computer or telemedicine across the nation. The
Remote Monitoring Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 changed
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is Medicare reimbursement and coverage for
defined as the collection of medical certain telehealth services, as did the SUP-
devices and applications that connect to PORT for Patient and Communities Act.
healthcare IT systems through online Unfortunately, the recently passed Florida
computer networks. These devices and telehealth legislation failed to require
apps are helping providers track chronic health plans to cover telehealth services.
illnesses for patients by recording medical More national and state legislation is
measurements such as EKG, glucose level, needed to address barriers to telemedicine,
and blood pressure outside of the health- including current reimbursement limita-
care setting. They are also providing physi- tions and restrictions. Until then, hospitals
Specializing in Medically cians with near real-time access to remote and health systems will continue to strug-
gle to bring these innovative programs to
monitoring information for hospitalized
Complex Patients patients while away from the bedside. This patients.

allows for the early identification and
intervention of health problems before Dr. Wael K. Barsoum is CEO and President
Kindred Hospitals are owned by Kindred they become critical. of Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Healthcare, Inc., a national network of Long Term One of our earliest remote monitoring For more information, visit
Acute Care Hospitals (LTACH's). programs involves providing an extra layer www.clevelandclinicflorida.org.

Kindred Hospitals provide specialized, high quality of inpatient care for our intensive care
care for acutely ill patients. For more than a decade,
we have fine-tuned the art of medically complex care.

Our services range from complex catastrophic
illnesses that require intensive care, post-surgical medical
rehabilitation to patients suffering from chronic diseases requiring respiratory and
rehabilitative therapies. Kindred Hospitals provide outcome-oriented
cost effective care for patients with a wide spectrum of
medical conditions.

Admissions to Kindred Hospitals may be
recommended by physicians, acute-care hospitals,
rehabilitation hospitals, managed care providers, case
management companies or by the patient’s family.
In all cases family tours are encouraged.

Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital Kindred Hospital
Fort Lauderdale Hollywood Coral Gables The Palm Beaches
1516 East Las Olas Blvd. 1859 Van Buren St. 5190 Southwest Eighth St. 5555 West Blue Heron Blvd
Ft. Lauderdale FL 33301 Hollywood, FL 33020 Coral Gables, FL 33134 Riviera Beach, FL 33418
954-764-8900, ext. 5136 954-920-9000 305-448-1585 561-904-8451
www.khfortlauderdale.com www.khsfhollywood.com www.khcoralgables.com www.khthepalmbeaches.com

20 July 2019 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News