By TED GRIGGS (LouisianaMedicalNews.com)

A $13 million state program will allow physicians at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center in Shreveport to consult with their counterparts at rural facilities in North Louisiana.
The project will also help poor residents avoid unnecessary trips to the charity hospital.
“From my perspective, and most people’s perspective, it’s a huge deal to keep those rural citizens at home,” said Jamie Welch, chief information officer of the Louisiana Rural Hospital Coalition. “That way they don’t face the sometimes several-hour drive to Shreveport” dealing with poor road conditions and the expenses of driving.

Most low-income people don’t have the kind of vehicle that can make a long trip, Welch said. Even with a reliable car, a lot of people can’t afford the gas.

During the first year of the five-year project, the LSU-run facility in Shreveport will get a little more than $2 million to upgrade or add equipment for telemedicine, Welch said. The telemedicine technology will be available to all 24 of the rural hospitals in North Louisiana.

Seven of those hospitals will be part of a pilot project, the North Louisiana LSU Health Science Center/Rural Hospital Medical Home Network, that will help the hospitals with electronic medical records, financial systems and clinical information systems.

Dr. John McDonald, chancellor of LSU Health Science Center in Shreveport (and the person Welch credited for coming up with the idea for the new system), said a seamless electronic medical system connecting the LSU hospitals in Shreveport, Monroe and Pineville to the rural hospitals in North Louisiana would do a lot to improve patient care.

“My thought was if a patient came to their (rural) hospital, with, say, substantial pneumonia or out-of control-diabetes, they could consult with someone here who was an expert in that,” McDonald said.

The doctors could then decide together on the best treatment, and the patient could stay in his community, McDonald said. Specialists at the LSU-run hospitals could continue monitoring the patients through telemedicine.

In rural communities, doctors don’t always have the option of consulting a specialist or a physician who can say whether the patient can be treated at the rural hospital or needs to be sent to Shreveport, Welch said. As a result, most cases get sent to Shreveport. McDonald said he did not know how many unnecessary referrals are made to Shreveport, but the number is substantial.

The new system will allow specialists at LSU to see the patient, check his records for information and even use cameras to examine his throat...