Tele-stroke robot highlights Covenant investments

2/1/2012

Using a video camera and joystick, Dr. James Kiely in Atlanta guided the 5-foot-tall robot to the mock patient's bedside more than 200 miles away at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville.

With Kiely's face on the robot's computer screen, he asked questions like, "Can you tell me the year?" and "Can you tell me where you are?"

The demonstration highlighted the area's newest medical tool in stroke telemedicine, which is now available at two of Covenant Health's hospitals.

The InTouch RP7 robot will allow neurologists to be available to patients in outlying areas 24 hours a day, said Dr. Keith Woodward, a neuro-interventional radiologist.

"This is a marriage of being able to get in as close as possible to the patient and have that interaction because it's important when you're doing a neurological exam to be able to see the facial expressions and get the patient to respond to you," Woodward said.

Covenant Health will station the first two robots it has acquired in the emergency departments at Parkwest Medical Center in West Knoxville and LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville.

The two robots, which cost an estimated $250,000 each, were made possible by a grant from Fort Sanders Regional's foundation. The plan is to eventually add more robots at other community hospitals in the region.

"The idea is to get the stroke experts into those hospitals so that if there is a patient that needs treatment then they can ship them here or they can treat them there through the stroke neurologists," Woodward said.

The telemedicine program is part of Covenant Health's expansion of medical technology throughout its network of hospitals and physician offices. And medical technology upgrades are part of the health care provider's billion-dollar capital investment in facilities.

Covenant said in 2011 it spent or committed nearly $40 million in information technology — more than in any other year — to upgrade clinical, financial, and materials systems for implementation of a Computerized Patient Order Entry system at Covenant acute care hospitals and an Electronic Medical Record system in the health care provider's physician offices.

Covenant Health's primary stroke facility is based at Fort Sanders Regional, which completed a $90 million expansion a year ago.

"Isn't it beautiful," Fort Sanders President Keith Altshuler admired, when asked about the addition to Fort Sanders Regional.

The hospital has leased out the first two floors of the addition, which include six physicians practices and an outpatient surgery center. It is in the process of adding a digestive disorder center.

Altshuler said planning is under way to begin populating the third floor, which will house the hospital's neurovascular research institute, related physician offices and clinics, and possibly some imaging equipment.

"It's really been a great addition to our hospital. We have good access now. We have good parking," Altshuler said.

In the last decade, Covenant's investment in new health care facilities, technologies and services has averaged $100 million a year, according to the health system. Those capital investments have included major upgrades at Fort Sanders Regional, Parkwest and Methodist Medical Center as well as new hospitals in Sevier and Loudon counties.

Most recently, Covenant has begun construction of a $76 million hospital and medical office building in Roane County. It is scheduled to be completed next year.

"We want every patient to experience excellent care in our hospitals and clinics, and that is why we are committed to new buildings, advanced technology, and community outreach," Covenant Health President and CEO Tony Spezia said in a statement. "While a billion dollars is certainly an impressive amount, our patients are the ultimate reason for Covenant Health's continued investment in our region."

Six of Covenant Health's seven acute care hospitals have been completely renovated or rebuilt in the last decade, according to Covenant, and major capital investment is under way at the seventh and most recent hospital to join the system, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System.

"As a not-for-profit health system, Covenant Health, under the direction of its leadership and community-owned board of directors, reinvests excess revenues after expenses in improving patient care," Spezia said. "Despite a challenging economic environment and cuts in health care reimbursement, we've pursued a strategy of excellence when it comes to advanced technology and clinical resources."

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel