P060: Bridging the gap: Using a tele-resuscitation network to improve pediatric outcomes in a community hospital setting

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine has been defined as the use of technology to provide healthcare when the provider and patient are geographically separated. Use of telemedicine to meet the needs of specific populations has become increasingly common across Canada. The current study employs the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to connect the emergency departments of a community hospital system and a pediatric tertiary care hospital. OTN functions through a two-way video conferencing system, allowing physicians at the tertiary site to see and hear the patient being treated in the community hospitals. Aim Statement: The aim of this project is to ensure essential care is provided to CTAS 1 and 2 pediatric patients who present to Niagara Health emergency departments, to increase the number of appropriate patient transfers. Measures & Design: Data for this project include a) description of common diagnoses, b) time of call, c) occurrence of transfers, and d) professional perceptions of the technology. A descriptive design was used together with the implementation of quality improvement cycles as the intervention occurred. Quality improvement methodologies including plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles ensured continuous improvement to the process of OTN use and therefore patient safety throughout the study. Evaluation/Results: Since the intervention was employed on December 17, 2018 there have been a total of 19 cases for which 4 transfers were requested. Changes to the process were made including the addition of weekly technology tests and feedback to health professionals involved to garner further support for the use. Results have indicated that seizure was the most common diagnosis, accounting for 37% of cases. The majority of calls were placed after 19:00 hours with no calls being placed between 24:00 and 10:00. Discussion/Impact: Healthcare providers had positive perceptions of the technology agreeing that decision making between on-site and remote teams was timely and collaborative, as well as that patient care and outcomes were improved with its use. The results of this study will be used to determine the benefits of employing telemedicine in the emergency departments of other hospital systems.