Loading ...
PORTLAND District Health (PDH) has successfully introduced a new telemedicine system that links the hospital to experts around Australia.
PDH can now access expert advice for most critical care patients at the flick of a switch.
Within its first week of operation, the system has been successfully used to help a man injured in a car crash.
The system, which includes a flat screen television, microphone over the patient’s bed and camera to allow interactive communication, was purchased with support from Portland Aluminium.
Accident and Emergency manager Dennyel Smith said the new system put Portland’s Emergency Department at the forefront of telemedicine in Victoria.
“Small rural hospitals cannot employ every type of specialist,” Ms Smith said. “The new telemedicine system allows offsite specialists to see and interact with Emergency Department patients and PDH clinicians to improve the quality of patient care.”
Ms Smith said PDH was working with Adult Retrieval Victoria (ARV) and The Royal Children’s Hospital to expand the model of telemedicine.
Read more in Monday’s edition of the Portland Observer.
Print 
PDF
