Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 the independent Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, a MaineHealth affi liate, to provide high-quality stroke care for patients within their own communi- ties. Another affi liate, MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, is in the process of converting its existing telestroke network to MaineHealth's network. With Maine having the highest stroke death rate among the six New England states — and strokes being the fi fth leading cause of death in the United States and the No. 1 cause of major disability — Fravert says the telestroke network is a critical tool for improv- ing patient outcomes, decreasing stroke-related dis- ability and health care costs and keeping stroke patients close to home in a largely rural state that's unable to support specialists outside of urban areas where there are suffi cient numbers of patients to pay their salaries. e early evidence, he says, is encouraging. Here's one example: Shortly after the telestroke network was launched, Fravert says, the emergency department at Miles Memorial Hospital received a call from local EMTs that a possible stroke victim was en route. e emergency department doctor mobilized his staff to be ready to conduct a CT brain scan as soon as the patient was stabilized. At the same time, a neurologist 50 miles away at MMC in Portland became part of that team via a secure videoconferenc- ing network that creates real-time opportunities for the specialist to examine, diagnose and recommend treatment for patients with stroke symptoms as if he or she were physically there. It only took 32 minutes from the time of the patient's arrival to the administration of the tPA clot- busting medicine, Fravert says, which is almost half an hour faster than the American Stroke Association's gold standard of 60 minutes or less. Integral to that performance, he adds, is the fact that the hospital's emergency department team and the MMC neurolo- gist beat the telestroke network's internal benchmarks for notifi cation and launching of the videoconference — in both cases by roughly half the target times. "It starts with the people in the emergency depart- ment," Fravert says. "You have to have champions of the program who really want to see it succeed. … We're trying to make those decision points be as seamless as we can. We meet monthly with providers and go over the key quality indicators for every call that happened. We use the quality benchmarks to identify where we can improve moving forward." Investing in telehealth Dr. Jackie Cawley, chief medical information offi cer at MaineHealth and associate chief medical offi cer, describes her dual roles as "providing clinical leadership for all things technology" in relation to the overarch- ing goal of providing the best health care possible. Launched earlier this year, the telestroke network is part of MaineHealth's multi-year $200 million investment in an integrated health care system using Epic software, which organizes clinical data for each patient, often from multiple sources, into a single record. What that means in practice is that the emergency department physician and the consulting neurolo- gist will have the same comprehensive up-to-date health record of the potential stroke patient on which to guide their medical decisions. at's important because the American Heart Association/American AUDIT | TAX | VALUATION | CONSULTING Our team of CPAs and consultants can help make the ride a little smoother. Gain speed by assessing risks, strengthening security, and taking control of valuable opportunities. BerryDunn — for confi dence on the move. GAIN COMFORT. GAIN GROUND. GET ROLLING. 800.432.7202. berrydunn.com. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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