Healthcare Design - April 2021 - 35

have conversations with clients about telemedicine going forward. " The conversation
is no longer 'should we?' or 'will we?' " says
Lindsay Radford, regional leader of healthcare consulting at HOK (New York). " It's
more of, 'OK, we know we need to have this,
now how big does it need to be and how do we
best deploy it?' "
PLANNING FOR A NEW WORLD

As healthcare organizations begin to consider
the best way to accommodate or scale up their
telemedicine programs within the built en-

vironment, a few pieces to that puzzle remain
unclear, especially regarding regulations. For
example, Douma says it's uncertain if providers
will be able to continue delivering care across
state lines after the pandemic or where reimbursement rates will land. " Most groups don't
expect reimbursement to go backwards, because people see the value of remote care, " she
says. " It's a much more positive financial environment than it was pre-COVID-19. "
Still, she says more clients are interested in
finding space for telemedicine to occur. " In
more cases than not, that is outside the exam

UNDER
SUPERVISION
AS MORE healthcare

facilities plan for a future
with telemedicine, industry
professional also note an
increased interest in remote
monitoring, whereby a
large number of patients
can be observed on an
ongoing basis from a
centralized hub or facility.
Prior to the pandemic,
Houston Methodist,
comprising a network
of eight hospitals
and 180 clinic
locations in the
Greater Houston
area, was building
a virtual intensive
care unit (ICU) program
to " support and optimize
care across the system and
as a safety net, " says Dr.

Sarah Pletcher, vice
president and executive
medical director of
virtual care at Houston
Methodist. Specifically,
the program would
provide a " second set
of eyes " to monitor
patients remotely as
well as extend bedside
teams with two-way
video connection
of experienced ICU
doctors and nurses.
Methodist originally
anticipated a six-month
rollout to fully integrate
and adopt the virtual
ICU, but the COVID-19
crisis propelled it to
ramp up the program
in two and a half
weeks, wiring nearly

130 ICU rooms with
bi-directional audio
communication, open
video and audio with
privacy indicators,
and telehealth buttons
to contact remote
operation centers. " We
are covering over 360
beds, across all eight of
our hospital campuses. "
Pletcher says.
Additionally, the
system was extended to
support not just the main
ICU units but also surge
ICUs, for COVID-19
patients in step-down
or intermediate status,
while also providing
support for ICU patients
waiting or boarding
in the emergency

department or postop recovery areas.
" There will always
be a need for 'boots
on the ground' at the
side of the patient,
but telehealth
hospital specialty
and monitoring
programs have the
potential to offer
efficiency in load
leveling, sharing
resources across
multiple locations,
and using technology
to 'watch' large
panels of patients
as a support and
extension to the
bedside teams, "
Pletcher says.-AD

APRIL 2021

35
Healthcare Design - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - April 2021
