Poster Abstracts
Meet the authors at the poster presentation session breakfast, Tuesday from 7:30 to 8:30 am
in the Regency Ballroom. Abstract number indicates poster location in the Regency Ballroom.
1. Telemedicine in Physician Assistant
Education: A Partnership with a
Community Agency 2. Using Lean Methods to Improve Virtual
Emergency Behavioral Health Treatment
Theresa Bacon-Baguley PhD, RN Carolinas HealthCare System
Grand Valley State University Background: Increasingly, behavioral health patients are
presenting to medical emergency departments in our nation.
CHS is dedicated to improving the access and quality of care
to the psychiatric patient. Through innovative technology and
Lean practices, we have improved our process in addressing
the specific needs of this population. Clinical barriers for psy-
chiatric patients in medical ED’s include variation in care and
documentation, decreased quality of care, chaotic environ-
ments increasing stress, and increased demand on nursing
resources. Considerable communication challenges are em-
bedded in this professional collaboration between the ED and
the behavioral health service line to coordinate and actualize
a virtual consult result.
Background: A core challenge of physician assistant educa-
tion is preparing professionals for lifelong learning. While this
conventionally has encompassed scientific advances, students
must also embrace new care delivery models and technolo-
gies. Telemedicine, the provision of care via two-way audio
and video, is an example of a technological advance reform-
ing health care.
Methods: During a three-semester sequence of Hospital
Community Experiences, physician assistant students were
assigned experiences with Answer Health on Demand, a tele-
medicine collaborative. Preceding the experiences, the agen-
cy lectured on the application of telemedicine. Students were
then introduced to the technology, and partnered with a pro-
vider. Prior to observing the patient-provider interaction, pa-
tient consent was obtained. Afterwards, students completed
a reflection paper on lessons learned, and the potential im-
pact of telemedicine on their careers.
Results: Thematic analysis was completed on the students’
reflection papers (n=13). Preceding the lecture and experi-
ence, over 75% of students (10/13) were unaware of tele-
medicine: “I had no prior understanding of what telemedicine
was and I am going into the healthcare field.” Several stated
they were “skeptical” about the effectiveness of “impersonal”
health care appointments. After the experience, all students
remarked that telemedicine will play a large role in the future
of healthcare and will provide benefits by improving access in
rural areas, decreasing wait time, and saving cost. “Within the
next decade, telemedicine will be a major route that many
individuals will take due to the convenience and practicality,”
said one student. More importantly, 30% of students (4/13)
commented that telemedicine is a technology they can see
themselves using in their future practice.
Amy Barrett, MA, LPC
Methods: Proven and specific problem solving methods in-
cluding A3 Practical Problem Solving, Root Cause Analysis,
Plan Do Study Act (PDSA), and managing for daily improve-
ments (MDI) provide the structure for the team to be success-
ful in implementing positive change. Escalation plans and
staffing to demand models enable us to respond more effi-
ciently to surges in consultation requests. The Lean methodol-
ogies seek to empower the team of professionals doing the
daily work to problem solve and eliminate waste.
Results: Using Lean methods, we have been able to decrease
the time from consultation request to complete by 2.4 hours,
thereby allowing the patient to access care and interventions
more quickly. These methods have allowed us to shave 3.2
hours from our response times, the initiation of the consult
and decrease ED length of stay with volume increases.
Conclusion: Initial results indicate that collaborative interac-
tion between students and telemedicine providers enhanced
student learning and exposed students to technological ad-
vances in the delivery of care. Further, results indicate that
students perceived telemedicine more favorably as a viable
delivery method after the experience.
28 | Page