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Patients at Van Diest Medical Center will soon have access to a new cardiology service through an innovative collaboration with Iowa Heart Center.
This partnership allows IHC cardiologists to conduct virtual visits with providers and their patients in the emergency department or those admitted for inpatient care.
VDMC will now have access to Telecardiology for non-emergent, stable patients. If necessary, patients can be fast-tracked to MercyOne for procedures or higher levels of care.
Consultations will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If a patient's symptoms worsen after hours, VDMC staff will be able to connect with the IHC physician on call, ensuring that patients receive timely care whenever they need it.
VDMC staff members will transmit lab work, EKGs and other testing results to IHC and will request a telecardiology consult. An IHC physician will join a video call to provide an assessment and plan of care for the patient.
According to Christina Wilson, director of program coordination for IHC, there is a team of 12 physicians with experience in a variety of cardiac specialties who will provide the consultations.
Iowa Heart utilizes the HIPAA-compliant Zoom platform for communication with critical access hospitals.
"It's kind of amazing that you can hear heart and lung sounds through the computer," Wilson noted. "It's so simple, but it's so cool."
According to Wilson, approximately 39% of the patients seen through telecardiology receive outpatient care, 17% are transferred to MercyOne for further treatment or procedures, and the remainder are admitted to the local hospital with a tailored care plan.
"We're able to give that patient the right care without automatically sending them on to Des Moines. Keeping the patient close to home, if possible, is important," she said.
The service will launch at VDMC on Monday, September 30.