Federal Grant Supports “eHospitalist” Pilot Program in Wisconsin
John Almquist, MD, FHM, director of hospitalist services for Ministry Health Care, a 15-hospital system serving rural Wisconsin, believes that an “e-hospitalist” pilot project now being tested at Ministry St. Mary’s Hospital in Rhinelander, Wis., could be a boon for rural communities that have difficulty recruiting primary-care physicians (PCPs).
When the hospitals in those communities are unable to offer hospitalist coverage, it makes the setting less attractive to PCPs because they might have to follow their patients in the hospital day and night, he explains.
Ministry recruited and trained two nurse practitioners who will soon be deployed at a critical-access hospital in Eagle River, population 1,443, supported remotely by the eight-member HM group in Rhinelander for consultations, supervision, and multidisciplinary rounds. The training is bolstered by written order sets focused on 30 common medical conditions that lead to admissions to rural hospitals.
“The hospitalist in Rhinelander is also able to talk directly to the patient at the remote site,” Dr. Almquist says.
The e-hospitalist program uses a telehealth network developed by Marshfield Clinic, a multispecialty physician group practice based in Marshfield, Wis. The clinic recently received a $1 million grant from the federal government to expand its 15-year-old telemedicine program. Part of the grant money is being used to expand the ehospitalist approach to new sites.
Visit our website for more information about hospitalists and telemedicine.