A faculty member is able to treat patients from Circleville while still in Athens thanks to technology.
In order to make it easier for patients who may not have access to nearby care, one Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine professor is now using a program called Optimized Care Network to have office hours with patients over a computer system.
Jay Shubrook, an associate professor in OU-HCOM, uses a form of virtual medicine on CareSpace, a video communication system that allows doctors to analyze details of a patient’s health over any distance. The program allows Shubrook to make medical diagnoses with tools that provide a range of health facts about the patient even though Shubrook is not in the room.
Each Friday, Shubrook ultimately hopes to help patients in Circleville, Ohio with CareSpace. He is one of the first doctors nationwide to use the program.
“Unlike some of the other telemedicine systems we’ve looked at, this one is really realistic,” he said. “I’m able to hear a heart, I’m actually able to look at eyes, take pictures of people’s feet. I can see it all in real time.”
Nurses are equipped with cameras that can monitor any part of a patient’s body so the doctor can make a diagnosis, Shubrook said.
“During appointments, a life-like, three-dimensional image of the doctor appears in the exam room and can be viewed by the patient via a two-way video system that provides 3D images at both sites,” said Brian Slusser, CEO of the Optimized Care Network.
Each patient has a set appointment, where they are referred from his or her normal physician to consult with a doctor. Then, Shubrook can confirm the diagnosis and alter treatment plans, he said.
“In the diabetes world, we can be pretty comprehensive,” Shubrook said. “I can’t touch them, so that’s a limit, but I do have a nurse that can examine, and she has a portable camera that is quite advanced.
“I can see a mole between two toes.”
However, the program does have a few more limitations.
“You have to have a good signal for your system, and you have to have a good quality camera and a good person on that end,” Shubrook added.
Shubrook said he often has patients come to him for diabetes treatment from Southeast Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.
“This saves a half of day of driving for me, just like it would save them a day of driving,” he said. “I think quite honestly this is the future of care in many rural areas.”
He said that having the opportunity to see these patients over Optimized Care makes it so some of these patients don’t have to drive far to get medical attention.
“There’s plenty of places in Ohio that don’t have access to specialized diabetes care,” Shubrook said. “There’s a need to have telemedicine.”
With the lack of doctors in certain programs, telemedicine is one option that is currently being considered.
“I think that it will become more popular, especially to the areas that don’t have a lot (of) specialty doctors,” said Stephanie Addis, operations manager at University Medical Associates. “With the economy the way it is and with groups like the elderly, it’s hard for them to get to a doctor.”
Similar programs are also being used for mental health and radiology, Shubrook said.
Addis said dermatologists and pediatricians are also using the Optimized Care Network.
The network also offers its program in other areas around the state.
“We’re working with other healthcare providers, including specialists, to expand our services to where they are needed,” Slusser said, adding CareSpace currently functions in the Chillicothe, Ohio area.
Shubrook said he hopes to use the program in the future for diabetes education as the program gains popularity.
“You could actually be teaching people how to inject insulin and how to (carbohydrate) count,” he said. “There’s even less access to educators, especially with primary care physicians.”
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