Telehealth plays a key role in improving healthcare service delivery to the residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada Health Infoway defines telehealth as the use of communications and information technology to deliver health care services over large and small distances, including remote and rural areas.
Telehealth enables residents of the province to avail of specialized and critical health care services without leaving their communities. Medical specialists can consult, treat and manage patient care regardless of location. With a focus on chronic disease management, the benefits of Telehealth in Newfoundland and Labrador are being realized.
In a province like Newfoundland and Labrador, which is geographically large with a dispersed population and harsh weather conditions, telehealth has played an important role in closing gaps resulting from these challenging realities.
Telehealth legacy in Newfoundland and Labrador
From its humble beginnings as a research interest at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in the late1960s, Telehealth has evolved into an integral part of the health care delivery system in the province. The province was one of the first in Canada to explore the use of various technologies to provide access to care for patients in remote and rural areas. From basic telephone transmission of EEGs across the province to more technologically advanced satellite solutions, telehealth has been used for over 30 years.
the leadership of Dr. Max House, the Telehealth and Educational Technology Resources Agency (TETRA) was initially utilized to enable continuing medical education for physicians in remote locations. Subsequently, the work expanded to explore telehealth as a vehicle for patient care or health service delivery.
Over the years Newfoundland and Labrador has received significant financial support for Telehealth projects from such sources as the provincial Department of Health and Community Services, Newfoundland and Labrador Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, Office of Primary Health Care, and TETRA. Telehealth has indeed been recognized by many as opportunity for this province.
Telehealth Program
In 2005, through provision of joint funding from Canada Health Infoway and the provincial Department of Health and Community Services, in affiliation with the Office of Primary Health Care and the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador completed a three-year telehealth strategic framework with five emerging strategic directions:
- Selfcare/telecare
- Chronic Disease Management (CDM)
- Access to Specialists and Specialty Services
- Home Care
- Point of Care Learning
Selfcare/telecare was fully developed as a separate initiative to telehealth. It is known as our provincial HealthLine. Of the four remaining strategic directions, given the burden of chronic diseases in the province's aging population, Chronic Disease Management was chosen as the area of focus for the Telehealth project. The disease areas of focus selected include:
- Diabetes
- Oncology
- Mental Health
- Nephrology
- Neurology
This project completed the end of February 2010, has now transitioned to a provincially funded clinical program. The project enabled Newfoundland and Labrador to build an infrastructure that meets the needs of the majority of the population, with over 47 functional sites located throughout the province. With this expanding infrastructure there has been tremendous growth in the numbers of patients and physicians utilizing telehealth.
Dr. Jonathan Greenland, a Radiation Oncologist at the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer has experienced those benefits first-hand:
"Telehealth is a valuable new tool in my practice. With the advances in Telehealth technology, I feel very confident in my ability to interact with my patients. It has improved my patients' access to care. It has improved continuity of care by making it easy for me to follow my own patients regardless of geography. This improved access and improved continuity in my view has resulted in a major leap forward in the quality of oncology care for rural patients."
The recently completed Telehealth benefits evaluation also showed that 79% of providers and 81% of patients surveyed agreed that "Telehealth has made it easier for my patients/me to obtain an appointment with the specialist or other provider at the provider site. Patients using telehealth services reported finding "no difference in using videoconferencing compared to a visit in person."
For further information on the benefits and evaluation of the telehealth project in this province, we are pleased to provide you with a copy of the final evaluation report