Auscultation at a Distance
Karen Amos - Nurse Clinician - Pre-Admit Clinic,
Patient, Mother and Nursing Station Staff
In February 2011 MBTelehealth (MBT) replaced
the digital stethoscope
across the province for all MBTelehealth sites. Digital stethoscopes may be used during live interactive video conference appointments for the auscultation of heart and lung sounds at a distance which can assist in diagnosis and assessment without requiring the patient to travel. The Telesteth device is more user friendly, less costly and produces a higher quality of sounds when compared to the previous device.
The Pediatric Pre-admit Clinic in the Health
Sciences Center in Winnipeg is
one group that
is currently using MBTelehealth
and the
TeleSteth device within
their everyday
work life to
assess patients in
remote and
northern
communities.
The goals of the Pre-Admit Clinic are as follows:
- Ensure the patient is medically fit to undergo anesthesia
- Ensure all necessary pre-op instructions are given to the family
- Reduce the associated fear and anxiety for the child and family
- Reduce non-attendance rates by establishing the patient’s intent to undergo elective surgery
- Aide in the effective management of hospital resources related to planned surgical admissions, including staffing requirements and post op hospital bed requirements
- Decrease surgical cancellation
Consultations with the Pre-admit Clinic involve collaboration between nursing, anesthesia, and a child life specialist where they strive to meet the medical, educations and psychosocial needs of both the child and the family. In the past, families from outside Winnipeg often travelled several days before the surgery date to meet with the anesthesiologist and the pre-admit clinic which increased the financial burden to the family and/or medical system and increased stress for families due to extended time away from home. Using telehealth and the TeleSteth device allows for assessment and pre-op teaching with families from remote communities and early assessment by the anesthesiologist to confirm any needed pre-op work-up which decreases last minute cancellations. The Pre-admit Clinic is able to connect to the patient and see if they are well enough to have anesthesia and if not, can reschedule the surgery with enough notice that the surgery time can be used for another patient.
The Pre-admit Clinic is working on a one year project to expand telehealth use within their program. Through project funding they were able to secure dedicated video conference equipment and have devoted one treatment room within the clinic for telehealth visits.
For an example of what a typical pre-admit consult looks like, please click on the video link below:
Auscultation at a Distance Video
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