The cameras were rolling at Eastern Plumas Health Care May 4 as Mark Schweyer discussed the success of telemedicine locally. His remarks will be used in a television commercial, advertisements and training videos for other health care providers. Schweyer, the health care district’s director of clinics and telemedicine, gets animated when he talks about the program.

“This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever worked on in my career,” the 47-year-old said. “And that includes working in the ER’s knife and gun club,” referring to various wounds that need attention in a large city emergency room.

In 2010 there was only one telemedicine visit at the clinic. “Two years ago, I started looking for funding,” Schweyer said. With a grant from the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, the health care district purchased a telemedicine cart. A second cart was procured through U.C. Davis. The district used one in Portola and the other in Indian Valley.

But the big change came with the California Telehealth Network, which offered subsidized Internet lines. Now, rather than costing $500 per month per site, it costs $62.50. “It really brought telemedicine to the region,” Schweyer said. In the past seven months, there have been 170 telemedicine visits.

Telemedicine brings specialists to the area so that residents don’t have to travel. This is particularly important for patients who financially or logistically are unable to travel to see a specialist. It’s also a boon to rural clinics, because the patients stay local. “The records stay here; the visits stay here,” Schweyer said.

California Telehealth Network is the organization that is producing the media package. The organization’s mission is to use broadband technology to improve access to the best quality health care in rural and medically underserved communities statewide.
The network is a coalition of health care, technology, government and other stakeholders with the goal of significantly increasing rural health care access.

“This is really changing the landscape of medicine in rural areas,” Schweyer said.
The process is almost transparent to the patient. He or she visits the clinic and if a specialist is needed, the doctor fills out a referral and the telemedicine coordinator sets up an appointment.

On the scheduled day, the patient arrives at the clinic and meets with the specialist via video monitor. The specialist already has the patient’s records.
“It’s just as if you were going to a specialist,” Schweyer said. “I want this as simple as possible; it’s not different than if you were seeing a doctor like this.”

Auburn Rittenhouse-Pendergrass is the clinic’s telemedicine coordinator. In addition to scheduling the visits and managing lab tests, she is also present during the visit to check vital signs and assist the doctor. “The doctor might ask me to use a camera to show a patient’s swelling feet or to look down someone’s throat,” she said.

The clinic has access to a variety of specialists from different areas, but is always seeking to expand its relationships. Tom Hayes, the chief executive officer of the health care district, and its board of directors support the telemedicine program and have asked Schweyer to attend their next board meeting to discuss telemedicine. “Everybody has been on board with this,” Schweyer said.

This article is courtesy of:
Debra Moore
Staff Writer, Portola Reporter, Feather Publishing
dmoore@plumasnews.com