Robotic Telemedicine Now Aiding in the Diagnosis for Oncology Patients
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
In another bold move in providing cutting-edge medical technology to its patients and physicians, St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron has commandeered the successful telemedicine stroke robot and reimagined its purpose for broader use in sharing advanced medical information and advice to patients in need.
Photo: Laura Lyon
This combination of technology and creative thinking is helping to ease the fears of patients in the Blue Water area who are facing a cancer diagnosis. The Mercy Regional Cancer Center, in collaboration with the Mercy Cancer Network — a network of the 17 Trinity Health, Michigan hospitals — is using the stroke robot at St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron as a tool to obtain oncology second opinions from experts across the region.
The Remote Presence robot investment through the Michigan Stroke Network was originally designed for patients in the emergency department to access highly trained neuroendovascular specialists at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland. Now that same robot is serving double duty for this important group of patients as well.
“When you are dealing with patients experiencing a cancer diagnosis, patients are absolutely scared,” says Kanu Dalal, M.D., Radiation Therapy Department at St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron. “When they hear the word ‘cancer,’ death automatically comes to mind. They also are scared of the treatment they may be facing.
“This is a very difficult time for patients. We’re hoping that the use of this telemedicine robot for a second opinion may help ease some of those fears and stresses.”
Dr. Dalal describes the robot for this use as being like a “medical Skype,” where people can talk to each other via a Web camera connected to their computers.
Patients and their local physician or clinical care liaison are connected via the telemedicine robot to a specialist in the Mercy Cancer Network. The specialist uses a laptop to see the patient and care provider, and the patient and care provider can see the specialist on the robot’s screen.
“It gives the local care provider and the patient a chance to discuss any issues with the physician on the other side,” Dr. Dalal says. “Everything gets explored and laid out on the table. There is no chance for misunderstanding or anything being lost in the translation.
“As a second opinion, it is an excellent backup plan. It really expedites things for the patient when it comes to choosing and starting a treatment.”
Sheri Nabozny, Oncology Service Line Manager at St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron, agrees. Her role with the robot is to organize what happens at the local Mercy Regional Cancer Center with what happens with the specialists in the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System.
“The robot is amazing, and this can provide such a relief for patients at a very scary time in their lives,” she says. “Now, many patients drive 60 miles or more one way to get second opinions. The telemedicine robot lets them do it much closer to their homes.”
Julie Sproul, Director of the Mercy Cancer Network, says the idea to use the robot to get oncology second opinions came from a St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron brainstorming session on how to better serve patients and optimize resources.
Research has shown that patients battling cancer prefer to be cared for locally, where they are familiar with their own physicians, the staff and their hospital. In those situations where additional resources offer enhanced or specialized treatment or capabilities, the use of telemedicine provides access to other network hospitals and cancer centers where patients can access treatment programs and options not necessarily available locally.
“Using telemedicine for additional options benefits our patients throughout Michigan,” she says. “The process saves time, travel and enables them to remain close to home — not only for their second opinions but also for a more coordinated-care approach during their cancer treatment.”
At the Mercy Regional Cancer Center, using the telemedicine robot patients can remain with their local specialist and hospital while obtaining a second opinion from one of the other hospital sites in the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, such as Oakland, Ann Arbor or Livonia, where telemedicine connections are available.
Philip Stella, M.D., of St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, is Medical Director for the Mercy Cancer Network. The telemedicine robot, he says, opens the door and puts the best specialists at the fingertips of the patients and their local care providers.
“Through this process we will be able to look at the images and have the conference face to face with the care provider and patient,” he says. “It is almost as if the specialist is right in the exam room with the patient. It really is quite amazing.”
Dr. Stella says a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, oncologists and radiologists meet on a regular basis to keep tabs on the progress of the program. This will also allow doctors in St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron to present issues and cases at conferences, when necessary, he says.
The telemedicine robot, coupled with the fact that Mercy Regional Cancer Center is part of the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) as well as the Michigan Cancer Research Consortium, enhances a patient’s ability to receive cutting-edge treatment.
“Because the patient gets to a specialist more quickly, they will be able to explore treatment options more quickly as well,” Dr. Stella says, “and because the hospital belongs to CCOP and the Michigan Cancer Research Consortium, physicians have access to every national clinical trial and new treatment out there being used.
“They don’t have to go out and search for the very latest treatment at some far away location,” Dr. Stella concludes. “This is all about treating them at home with the best and latest treatment.”
Dr. Dalal says technology is improving and making a huge difference in medicine and treatment.
“Sometime down the road, there will be a doctor on the other side of the video hook up who will be able to do a complete examination of the patient during one of these conferences,” he says. “Right now, the second opinion specialist can visually see the patient, receive copies of CT scans and other testing, but I do believe eventually the doctor will be able to actually perform an internal exam via the robot. When that happens, it will only improve treatment and care for the patient.
“Until then, what we are doing now is providing a standard of care that patients can’t get at any other institution in the Blue Water and Thumb areas,” concludes Dr. Dalal. “It is very exciting, not only for the medical community, but for our patients. This only improves their care and treatment options, and it does it close to home and family.”
Local physicians can refer patients directly for a second opinion by contacting Brenda Miller, R.N., oncology nurse navigator, who will serve as a clinical liaison for second opinion consultations, at (810) 985-1871. For more information on the program, contact Sheri Nabozny, Oncology Service Line Manager, at (810) 985-1387. For more information about the statewide Mercy Cancer Network, log on to www.mercycancernetwork.com.
MD News October 2010, Southeast Michigan