A grant from HRSA https://www.hrsa.gov for $1.2 million will be used to help Wake Forest Baptist Health https://www.wakehealth.edu improve rural cardiovascular care in North Carolina’s Wilkes County. The funding will enable telehealth services to be used to connect the health system’s emergency care and cardiovascular experts virtually in real time with the staff.
The staff at Wilkes EMS, Wilkes County’s Public Health Community Clinic (PHCC) and Wake Forest Baptist Health will use telehealth capabilities, Wake Forest Baptist’s clinicians will be able to help Wilkes EMS paramedics quickly classify patients based on EKG readings, vital signs, and risk scores, plus assist with treatment and transportation decisions.
Wake Forest Baptist will help Wilkes Medical Center’s Emergency Department https://wilkescounty.net/35/Emergency-Medical-Services-EMS providers evaluate, manage, and transfer patients, and help PHCC staff with consultative advice for patients who are seen in their clinic after they are treated by EMS or in the emergency department.
Simon Mahler, MD., Professor of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist reports, “Our health system already operates a wide-reaching tele-stroke network for emergency departments across rural North Carolina but expanding our telehealth program will improve rural cardiovascular care.”
As part of the project, Dr. Mahler and his team will measure whether the implementation of cardiovascular telehealth helps reduce unnecessary emergency department visits, transfers, and re-admissions. They will also determine if the program contributes to a decrease in heart attacks, invasive coronary procedures, and cardiovascular mortality in the county.