Interior Health has launched a new virtual physician project for patients admitted to Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
A device equipped with both a screen and camera and additional equipment will be accompanied by a nurse to enable a remote physician to attend inpatients hospitalized for further care.
The device will not be used in the emergency room, said Interior Health representatives during a presentation to city council during the regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 19.
Dr. Jacques Neuhoff, chief of staff at Cariboo Memorial Hospital has seen the virtual physician program in action. He is also the husband of Dr. Mariska Neuhoff, one of the local physicians who does hospital rounds to attend patients.
"It's a great support system, the physicians that are working as the virtual physicians are fully trained hospitalists, working in other communities as in-person physicians," he said, noting these physicians are well-versed in patient care. (Hospitalists provide similar care to a primary care physician, but within a hospital setting.)
The remote physician will be able to take on half of the patient load, relieving some of the burden on local physicians.
The virtual physician will operate in a hybrid model, where an in-person physician will also be doing half of the bedside visits, focusing on patients who require more hands-on treatment.
"It definitely will be a tool for retaining people by easing the burden," said Neuhoff. "Without the virtual support we have been struggling with ... physicians and physical people on site, so a lot of that extra work landed on the shoulders of single individuals, and it's a lot of work to take on."
He said being able to share this load with physicians remotely will help retain existing staff. Thanks to the virtual support model being rolled out, the schedule for staffing the hospital outside the emergency room and being able to admit patients is looking much better, said Neuhoff.
Karen Cooper, executive director of clinical operations Thompson Cariboo region, said the project is expected to reduce the amount of patients going out of the community for care that "could and should be provided" at CMH.
"It won't eliminate all transfers, as some patients will require more acute care, but it will reduce the number of folks that go out to receive care," she said.
Coun. Flaspohler said knowing that will take off a lot of stress for people, especially with winter approaching.
Diane Shendruk, vice-president clinical operations for IH, said Wednesday this is the first pilot project of this kind in an IH hospital the size of CMH.
Physicians participating all reside in B.C., including the Interior and three of them toured CMH to get to know the equipment on the patient end, she said.
Shendruk said Interior Health has contracted with Teledoc Health, which then contracts the pool of physicians.
Physicians will also be on site to support the patient care if needed, she added.
Shendruk said she planned to be at CMH on Thursday, Nov. 21 and was looking forward to observing the virtual doctor program in person for observation.
"The technology is excellent," Shendruk said. "It really is very similar to having a care provider at the bedside."
She said while many people are used to technology, there is a portion of the population that is not comfortable with it, but that those people should not be worried about accessing the virtual physician program.
"Patients need no training or technical know-how at all to access virtual care, which is really great. As we do our ongoing evaluation, the patient experience is an important component of our evaluation."
Shendruk confirmed CMH is staffed full-time with hospitalists both in-person and virtually up until the end of March 2025.