Using videoconferencing technology, patients can now be seen by a physician or healthcare team without traveling long distances to do so, reducing the need for a patient to transfer between healthcare facilities.

OTN allows a patient the opportunity to see a specialist and/or a clinical team for an initial assessment, follow up appointment  or therapeutic education via video.

The need to reduce patient transfers from long-term care facilities to the Hospital emergency department can be decreased through regular Telemedicine visits.

Telemedicine is all about moving patient information, not the patient.


What Happens at a Telemedicine Appointment
The patient arrives at a predetermined OTN site located at Southlake. There, an OTN Clinical Resource person , who is also a nurse, will explain how the system works, makes the patient comfortable and facilitate the two-way visual correspondence between the patient and physician or other healthcare professionals.

The Telemedicine session is like a regular appointment only the physician or health care provider is viewed on a television screen (much like Skype).

Any needed assessments can be performed by the attending nurse at the request of the physician. Before the patient’s arrival, the healthcare professional will already have the relevant information to support the patient’s telemedicine visit.
Electronic diagnostic equipment such as patient exam camera or digital stethoscope allow for a thorough exam.

All information is relayed over the video conference system which in encrypted to ensure confidentiality. Appointments take place in a private room. The patient can only be seen and heard by those directly involved in the consultation at both the patient’s location and the consultant’s site.


Telemedicine Services
The following telemedicine services are offered at Southlake:

• Internal Medicine
• Rheumatology
• Hematology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Dermatology

Patient Education Classes
The following telemedicine classes are offered at Southlake:

• Osteoporosis Workshop
• Fibromyalgia Classes
• Cardiac Rehab Education
• More to Come - Stay Tuned!