The new telemedicine system offers benefits to both patients and staff alike. HM3 Bryan Schmidt used to spend his day scheduling patients for a specialty referral in San Antonio. I just walk across the hall with the patient and send the consult via the telemedicine system. CDR Dagmara Bastiks, MC, one of Naval Hospital Corpus Christi's surgeons, was attending training on the telemedicine system and remembered that one of her patients, for whom she had been trying to get a gastroenterology appointment in San Antonio, might be an excellent test case for the system. During the training session, the patient's endoscopy photos and history were transmitted to Wilford Hall, allowing the gastroenterologist to participate in the planning for the patient's subsequent care.
Pictures are worth a thousand words when discussing a patient.
I see great potential with the use of telemedicine. Hospitals evolving into a paperless workplace have also instituted automated systems. The evolution of health care reform has led to searching for new ways of doing business and improving customer satisfaction. CHCS is the information system tying together all aspects of medical treatment and administration at Navy hospitals. CHCS allows doctors to admit patients, access medical records, and even order a blood test or an X-ray right from their own desk using the computer.