(Updated April 15, 2011)

Robot Driving Lessons - Using her laptop and control stick, neurologist and stroke specialist, Dr. Nina Solenski is learning to drive RP-7 robots around both UVA and Bath Community Hospital as part of the Virginia Acute Stroke Tele-Health Network (VAST) initiative. The robots are helping her assist Emergency Department physicians at both hospitals in evaluating and treating stroke patients.

(Photo Provided Courtesy of Nina Solenski, M.D. The Stroke Center
Stroke Telemedicine & Tele-education Program Director)

Telemedicine Centers

Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine
The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine is focused on preparing osteopathic primary care physicians to serve the rural and medically underserved areas of the Commonwealth of Virginia, North Carolina and the Appalachian region, and to provide scientific research that will improve the health of all humans.

Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems
The Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems facilitates telemedicine for patients in Saltville, Troutdale and the Twin City Medical Center utilizing the medical expertise in more than 20 fields of medicine from the University of Virginia Health Care System.

Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance (formerly Northern Neck Middle Peninsula Telehealth Consortium)
The Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance is a rural community-based organization focused on increasing the overall health and well-being of residents living in the 12 County region of Northeastern Virginia and Virginia’s Eastern Shore. For a video about NNMPTC click here.

University of Virginia Office of Telemedicine
Using advanced computer applications and broadband telecommunications technologies, the Office of Telemedicine of the University of Virginia Health System regularly facilitates linkages between remotely located patients and health professionals throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.

VCU Health System Clinical Telemedicine
The VCU Health System Clinical Telemedicine program serves the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsual and other areas of eastern Virginia with telehealth programs and is investigating opportunities for specialty care for OB/GYN, cancer and emergency care.

HCA and Pulmonary Associates of Richmond
In 2005, The Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and Pulmonary Associates of Richmond (PAR), a community based private practice, partnered to implement a TeleICU with the goal of improving the quality of critical care and reducing medical errors. Pulmonary Associates, a private practice focused on pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, established in 1975, has steadily grown to 27 pulmonary/critical care specialists. HCA owns and manages five hospitals in Richmond, one hospital in Hopewell, Virginia and has recently opened a state of the art facility in Spotsylvania, Virginia (hcavirginia.com). In addition to the five HCA Richmond hospitals in which Pulmonary Associates has a physical presence on a daily basis, the TeleICU monitors patients in both Hopewell and Spotsylvania. A total of 9 critical care units in 7 hospitals are continuously monitored by critical care nurses 24 hours a day. Critical care physicians staff the station from 6pm to 7am seven days a week.

Inova Health System
Inova Health System is a not-for-profit health system serving northern Virginia. The enVision eICU supports 126 critical care beds in eight intensive care units in the five Inova hospitals utilizing voice and video technology. This technology remotely leverages critical care physicians and nurses as an adjunct to support patient care delivery to the critically ill. In partnership with the Northern Virginia Hospital Alliance, enVision is actively working on a project to provide 12 emergency rooms with mobile technology and clinical support in the event of a regional mass casualty incident.

Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO)

MedVirginia
MedVirginia was formed in 2000 by Virginia healthcare providers to focus on initiatives to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare services through the innovative use of health information technology. It is owned by a coalition of Virginia not-for-profit hospitals and physicians representing a cross-section of the Commonwealth’s healthcare delivery system. In 2010, Michael Matthews, CEO was named 2010 eHealth Advocate of the Year by eHealth Initiative (eHI).

CareSpark
CareSpark is an innovative effort in the central Appalachian region that is working to improve health through the collaborative use of health information.  The CareSpark region includes 17 counties in the Tri-Cities Tennessee and Virginia area.

Northern Virginia Regional Health Information Organization (NoVaRHIO)
NoVaRHIO and its northern Virginia partners are working to facilitate the availability of accurate and  timely electronic health records with the goal of improving the health status and health care of those who live and work in northern Virginia.  As a first step toward a fully realized health information exchange, NoVaRHIO is currently undertaking a pilot to provide Inova Alexandria Emergency Department physicians with patients’ medication histories to help in diagnosis and treatment.  In addition, NoVaRHIO is promoting the “File for Life” throughout the region with the goal of furthering consumer use of PHRs and establishing a standards-based health information framework for future automation and information exchange.

Cary Street, Richmmond, Virginia