Video Teleconferencing (VTC)

From Guide to YKHC Medical Practices

Revision as of 16:58, 18 June 2019 by Acondon (talk | contribs) (additional details on job aids available requested by Jen Hampton)

Video Teleconferencing or VTC enables a provider in Bethel or SubRegional Clinic to do a primary care visit with a patient in a remote village. The VTC system we primarily use is Vidyo. This is also used by specialists at ANMC in Anchorage to do visits remotely with patients who are here in Bethel.

VTC/Vidyo is an extremely useful tool as travel is quite expensive and remote visits can save patients the substantial cost and inconvenience of traveling long distances.

The VTC/Vidyo system requires special software, hardware, and training on both the provider and patient's clinic ends. Once these are in place, providers can use the system to see and hear their patients remotely, usually in a village with the assistance of a Health Aide. We have electronic stethoscopes to transmit heart, lung, and abdominal sounds and cameras that can take/save/send pictures and function as otoscopes.

These visits will be scheduled for providers much the same way that regular visits are scheduled, except that the patients in the villages are advised that they will be seeing the provider remotely. Not all patients are appropriate for VTC visits, but they can be extremely useful for appropriately selected patients who cannot easily travel.

Click here to view YKHC sharepoint eVISIT job aids to assist with these visits}

  - view primary care job aids for outpatient providers to understand workflow
  - view VTC Provider - How to Share Screen to learn how to display patient's chart, ie lab results, during VTC visit