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Hospital board interested in fledgling service
One of the biggest issues facing health providers and resident in British Columbia is the growing number of people without family doctors.
Called “orphaned patients,” many people with a general practitioner (GP) doctor end up using emergency room facilities for consults/treatments.
One way the province has tried to address doctor shortages is through Telehealth, where patients travel to established ‘end points’ to engage in telephone and Internet meetings with doctors. However, that service still requires patients to travel, often great distances.
On Feb. 14, Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD) board members heard from Colin Meakin, vice president of clinical partnerships with a new B.C. company called Medeo – which provides online access to doctors and specialists anywhere there is Internet reception via mobile devices or computers.
“The Kootenays are not alone in GP shortages. It rears its ugly head all over B.C.,” Meakin told the board.
That Meakin was even speaking as a delegation during the Friday morning meeting was unique, as board chair John Kettle noted.
“This will be a first for us. We decided to take a flyer on this” because of the potential for the privately run service to be a benefit to residents in the KERHD.
Meakin explained that Medeo enables physicians to securely video-conference with patients and colleagues anywhere and from any device and there is no charge for patients.
“All a patient needs is an iPhone, iPad or a computer,” he said, noting the company currently has more than 300 physicians signed up province-wide, with “several in the Kootenays.” It also has more than 10,000 patients signed up.
Medeo can improve access to specialists, he said “and be a stepping stone to help connect orphaned patients to GPs.”
KERHD board members expressed varying ranges of enthusiasm for the fledgling service.
“It’s a very interesting concept,” remarked board member and City of Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski.
“This is excellent news,” added board member and Village of Radium Hot Springs Mayor Dee Conklin, who shared a story about an employee who had to travel from Radium to Cranbrook for a consult, which was cancelled by they arrived, creating a wasted trip, time and expenses.
Meakin told board members that while the B.C.-born and based company has been enjoying steady growth, challenges remain, including “some resistance to the platform” because of security and privacy concerns.
“But we are in the same data centre as the Ministry of Health and privacy and security has been well thought out,” he said.
Some board members queried him about prescriptions and potential abuse by clients and another expressed concern about abuse of the system by the same people who stretch ERs thin by abusing staff time with issues not relevant to emergency care.
Meakin said the company, which came on line in July 2013, continues to refine its data base and through checks and balances can “red flag frequent flyers.”
Board member and Town of Creston Mayor Ron Toyota told board members he has already signed up with Medeo to check it out and gave it a rave review.
“It’s all very smooth, very simple. It’s going to be a great system for those who don’t have a physician,” he said.
Chair Kettle, Central Kootenay Regional District Electoral Area B director, suggested all KERHD board members sign up to get a taste of what this service can provide.
“It’s amazing, to me, that we haven’t jumped on this through Interior Health,” he said, adding he sees the service saving the province millions of dollars and reduce the stress on ERs.
“It’s like listening to Bill Gates tell a group of people he has built a computer in his garage,” he enthused.
Meakin told directors the concept “was born out of a physicians idea. B.C. is really the first place in Canada that this has been available.”
Kettle concluded that he hopes Interior Health will invite Medeo into the fold.
Attending the Friday meeting to inform the board about 2014 budget requisitions, Interior Health’s Todd Mastel told directors “we’re taking, in essence, a wait and see approach. We need to be prudent.”
Kettle again urged Interior Health to take a good look at the company and its services. “We don’t want to be last,” he said.
For more: https://medeo.ca and https://www.facebook.com/medeoapp .
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
