BOISE, Idaho — St. Luke's Health System is expanding virtual care services to more emergency departments across the state. That means people who live in rural Idaho will now have access to some of the state's top health experts.
Patients who are in St. Luke's emergency departments in Nampa, Wood River, McCall, Fruitland, Mountain Home, Magic Valley, Jerome, Meridian and Boise will be able to connect with new virtual neurologists, behavioral health providers, pediatricians, social worker, critical care and nursing support specialists, along with emergency physicians and nursing teams at the St. Luke's Virtual Care Center (VCC) in Boise.
"These expanded emergency department services are such an important effort to standardize care across all St. Luke's emergency departments," said Krista Stadler, St. Luke's Health System senior director of telehealth. "Any patient who walks in the doors of any St. Luke's emergency department should know they are getting the same level of care, no matter if their location is in the city or in the mountains."
During the COVID pandemic, St. Luke's has come to rely on more virtual services and expanded some of its programs. The pilot programs helped improve patient outcomes at lower costs, so St. Luke's decided to put the programs in place permanently. One of those programs is the new virtual services provided in all nine of its emergency departments in Idaho.
Live, two-way cameras, remote patient monitoring equipment and electronic health records connect physicians and specialists at the Boise VCC with emergency department rooms to support diagnosis and treatment of patients often hundreds of miles.
The VCC physicians and nurses provide virtual bedside consultations and extended support. They can monitor patients' vital signs, closely watch critical patients to support onsite caregivers, do medication checks, order tests as needed, read results and provide needed expertise.
The necessary equipment and technology have been installed, and expanded virtual services are expected to be rolled out to all sites over the next several months. Wood River and Nampa are the first to formally come online, followed by McCall, Fruitland, Elmore, Jerome, Magic Valley, Meridian and Boise.
"We are all excited about the expanded telehealth services recently instituted in our Emergency Department," added Dr. Terry Ahern, SLWR Emergency Department Medical Director. "Having real-time videos consults with St. Luke's pediatricians and stroke neurologists will undeniably add value to a patients ED visit and help to drive exceptional care at our Wood River hospital."
The Virtual Care Center is located inside St. Luke's Plaza in downtown Boise. The 35,000-square-foot center is a high-tech hub where a 24/7 centralized medical team of up to 350 clinicians and specialists use technology care for patients at clinics, hospitals and homes throughout Idaho and eastern Oregon.
Telehealth continues to evolve into a vital part of all services, particularly in the last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Luke's reports more than 200,000 clinic visits have been conducted via telehealth since March 2020.
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