Van Buren County Hospital launches Virtual Hospitalist Service with University Hospitals

KEOSAUQUA ? Van Buren County Hospital has partnered with University of Iowa Health Care to launch the Virtual Hospitalist Service.

The service provides access to hospitalists at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City via a secure telemedicine connection between both hospitals. The program aims to support local providers, enhance inpatient care, and keep patients in their local hospital.

VBCH providers and nurses in Keosauqua collaborate with a UI hospitalist ? a physician focused on inpatient care ? in Iowa City through secure video conferencing and a shared electronic health record. Together, the team provides specialty care for patients in the emergency department and inpatient units at VBCH, through twice-daily virtual rounding and virtual consults.

?It?s always good to talk to another provider. Two heads are definitely better than one,? said Tim Blair, medical director of the emergency department at VBCH. ?The service allows us to collaborate via telemedicine on the care of our patients and effectively treat conditions we don?t see often. Ultimately, VBCH can keep more medically complex patients in their local community, who might otherwise transfer to the University of Iowa.?

With their VBCH provider at their side, inpatients at VBCH use secure video conferencing to communicate with the UI hospitalist daily.

?I can talk with patients and providers in Van Buren County Hospital the same way I would if they were face-to-face with me here in Iowa City,? said Ethan Kuperman, hospitalist at UI Hospitals and Clinics and medical director of the UI Virtual Hospitalist Service. ?The secure video conferencing allows us to establish the patient-to-provider relationship even though the patient is located more than 90 minutes away from where I am.?

Keeping patients closer to home enables families to better support their loved one while in the hospital, reduces travel time, and improves continuity of care. When a patient transfer is necessary, the process ensures that the patient experiences is a smooth transition of care, from VBCH to UI Hospitals and Clinics.

?When a patient does need to transfer, the process is seamless,? said Blair. ?The patient sees the UI hospitalist in person that they saw on the tablet. Plus, it is a comfort to the patient to know someone else is out there taking care of them.?

The Signal Center for Health Innovation?s Digital Health Service Line Manager Kate Klefstad, in collaboration with several UI teams, worked to develop the telemedicine infrastructure, logistics, and workflow for UI Health Care and VBCH. A division of UI Health Ventures, TSC is a multi-disciplinary consultancy focused on integrating digital health tools ? such as telemedicine ? into clinical practices and organizations.

?At TSC, we?re able to connect providers here in Iowa City to health care organizations who are looking for innovative ways to enhance the care they offer to their community,? said Klefstad. ?We?re working to build a telemedicine network that will increase access to digital health services, like UI Virtual Hospitalist, across the state of Iowa.?

The UI Health Care Virtual Hospitalist Service went live Nov. 15, and through Jan. 9, UI Hospitals and Clinics virtual hospitalists had collaborated with VBCH providers and nurses to locally support 58 patients.

VBCH is the first hospital in rural Iowa to launch the UI Health Care Virtual Hospitalist Service.