Telehealth

Peace Country’s telehealth goes high-definition

Peace Country Health is continuing its leadership role by being the first Health Region in Alberta to use high definition video conferencing technology exclusively. The increased picture resolution and sound quality has created better patient experiences and moved remote health services in Peace Country Health to a new level.

The health region was an early adopter of telehealth technology and had 15 systems installed in 2001. Peace Country Health continues to rely heavily on telehealth technologies and innovations – it currently uses 35 telehealth systems, Monday to Friday during regular office hours, for a total of 1,000 hours each month.

“Peace Country Health has been a leader in the use of telehealth technology. The use of telehealth has created capacity for patients to receive services that would otherwise not be available. It has also increased Peace Country Health’s ability to conduct administrative activities and to reduce costs,” said Shawn Terlson, President and CEO.

“We rely heavily on our telehealth equipment to provide assessments and follow-up appointments for the seniors of our region,” said Lana Curle, Home Care Manager based in Manning. “This type of technology is so unbelievable for our seniors, and it helps them to feel more at ease with the physician on the screen if the image is as clear and defined as possible.”

Telehealth is also used to support educational opportunities for medical professionals and physicians.

“Telehealth is a valuable feature of practising medicine in our region because it lets us complete the education sessions required to maintain our medical certification in our communities,” said Dr. Hugo Bertozzi, an Internal Medicine specialist in Grande Prairie. “It is a comfortable face-to-face way to maintain contact with our colleagues.”

The equipment available in 2001 relied on expensive digital telephone lines and the amount of information that could be transmitted was limited because of low bandwidth. It is this original technology that Peace Country Heath replaced with high definition video conferencing technology.

The equipment upgrade was completed in January 2008 and was jointly funded by Peace Country Health, Alberta Health & Wellness and Canada Health Infoway.