Banner Good Samaritan Telemedicine Program Breaks
New Ground with Successful Payson Test

Direct video link allows patients, personal physicians to “visit”
specialists without traveling to metro area

PHOENIX (April 10, 2003) - A new tool for practicing medicine will allow physicians to assess patients from around the state. Neurosurgeon Daniel Lieberman, MD, and neurologist Padma Mahant, MD, opened the newest form of telemedicine in December when the two assessed a central Arizona man for movement disabilities as part of Banner Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center’s Movement Disorders Clinic via a closed-circuit, two-way video link with Payson Regional Medical Center.

The video assessment was run through the Arizona Telemedicine Program and directed at Banner Good Samaritan by Mark Smith, MD. “Many providers in remote areas need but have no access to subspecialty support, which is often located only at the major centers such as Banner Good Samaritan,” Smith said. “As Banner Good Samaritan is the largest hospital in the state, and has a vast concentration of specialists and support resources, this program is being set up to help support the providers and patients over the rest of the state. In addition, often patients in underserved or remote areas have no healthcare resources at all, and this will help to being to bring support to those areas.”

The first program activated at Banner Good Samaritan was the Movement Disorder Clinic conducted by Lieberman and Mahant, which involves the physicians remotely examining the patient, ordering diagnostic tests, and prescribing medications. The Movement Disorders Clinic features a multi-disciplinary team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, pharmacists and therapists that can aid patients and community physicians by providing a thorough assessment of each patient and make concrete, practical suggestions to help patients and their caretakers improve their quality of life.

“I really enjoy working in this environment, and I’m grateful that we are able to provide this outreach program to many Arizona residents,” Mahant said. “It’s such a benefit for the patients because they have the comfort of being in their hometown without the stress of having to trek into Phoenix for an examination. This program also allows many more patients to be assessed for their movement disorders, some of whom may not be able travel long distances.

“I do believe it is crucial to have a physician, physician assistant or clinician at the other end who can assist the patient with some parts of the examination. This person can also help place the patient at ease for the examination because they know the patient and the medical history,” Mahant added. “While we can do the examination from Banner Good Samaritan with just the patient at the other end, we really do benefit from having someone familiar with the patient’s case and who can explain some of the questions and tests we need to the patient.”

The Arizona Telemedicine Program provides two immediate benefits to the patient, according to Herbert A. Schwager, PhD, medical director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program site at Payson Regional Medical Center. “First, the program allows the patient to see a specialist sooner, and second, the consulting doctor is supplied the patient’s case history and has studied the case in advance of the session,” Schwager said. “That familiarity translates well to the patient.

“Other studies show that the patients prefer the autonomy of being in-home or other familiar surroundings with their specialist instead of traveling to a new setting with new doctors,” added Schwager, who has been involved with Arizona Telemedicine Program since its inception. “Some patients, including some in correctional facilities, also prefer the telemedicine setting and having a television monitor between them and the specialist.”

Schwager believes the Arizona Telemedicine Program works because it brings metropolitan medicine to the rural community. “Without this program, there would be no other way to have a movement disorders specialist see patients in Payson or elsewhere in Arizona,” Schwager said. “The only way our patients would have access to this help would be to take a trip down the mountain.”

Banner Good Samaritan is developing plans to increase the benefits of telemedicine in Arizona, including an ALS clinic, medical education, wound care, cardiology, and maternal fetal medicine.

The educational component will provide many of the lectures delivered at Banner Good Samaritan to the entire state on an interactive basis. “Often medical providers outside the metropolitan area are so busy and live so far from a major center, that they are unable to attend medical educational courses at these centers,” Smith added. “We tend to take it for granted that we have all these lectures and educational programs every day here at Banner Good Samaritan, but providers in the rural or distant areas have no such access to these educational programs. This program is intended to help support these providers with medical educational support.”

Arizona Telemedicine Program started with funding from the state of Arizona in 1996, and funds were approved and provided by the Arizona State Legislature. Although the Arizona Telemedicine Program staff comes mostly from the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, the Telemedicine Network itself is owned by the state of Arizona, and all health care institutions in the state are welcome and encouraged to join.