Penn State Health inks pact with Mercy Virtual to expand telemedicine and ICU monitoring
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Mercy Virtual have partnered to deliver virtual monitoring for the medical center's intensive care unit, the first of several steps that will expand telemedicine services across Penn State Health facilities and programs and create new care models in the region.
The goal of the partnership with Penn State Health is to develop a health care consortium in which Penn State Health will in the near future become a hub for providing virtual care services to other hospitals in the central Pennsylvania region.
Mercy’s TeleICU enables doctors and nurses to monitor patients by working virtually with bedside caregivers in 32 ICUs across seven states. In the past year, ICUs using Mercy's TeleICU have seen a 35 to 40 percent reduction in how long patients stay in the hospital, the company said, and 30 to 40 percent fewer deaths when compared to national benchmarks.
Through Mercy’s TeleStroke program, for instance, board-certified stroke neurologists who work closely with the local emergency teams assess symptoms of a stroke via two-way video to determine if clot-busting drugs can be administered which can save lives and reduce disabilities caused by strokes.
Penn State Health's telemedicine program for stroke, known as LionNet, added four community hospitals to its network in the past year for a total of 14 partner facilities. LionNet brings the resources of Penn State's comprehensive stroke center to communities across central Pennsylvania.
In addition, Penn State dermatologists are now conducting consults via telemedicine, utilizing secure technology that allows providers to send data and images. And a recently launched telemedicine initiative allows physicians in the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Emergency Department to connect with colleagues at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Harrisburg on patient consults that require specialty support.
"Having this 'second set of eyes' on our most ill and injured patients will identify and meet patients' needs faster, often presenting simpler and less intensive solutions,” Penn State Health CEO Craig Hillemeier, MD, said in a statement. “In the long term, this type of partnership can help address the nursing and physician specialist shortages across the country. Together, Penn State Health and Mercy will map out new ways to leverage virtual care to meet future challenges."
The partnership is Mercy's second virtual medicine agreement in recent months with an academic medical center. Mercy and University of North Carolina Health Care system teamed up earlier in the year.
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