Unity Medical Center is excited to announce its next step in bringing new, innovative medicine to Manchester with the upcoming addition of cardiac telemedicine.
In a collaboration with TriStar Health, Unity will soon employ a state-of-the-art robot that will allow patients at Unity Medical Center instant access to cardiology specialists while in the Emergency Room and while admitted to Unity.
The program is expected to launch close to the start of 2020.
“This partnership with Unity Medical Center and Tristar will allow our patients in this community to have access to quality doctors without having to drive long distances,” stated Martha McCormick, CEO of Unity Medical Center. “We continue to strive for programs like these to ensure that rural healthcare in Coffee County is strong and our residents have access to life-saving care.”
Unity Medical Center will be the first facility to partner with Tristar in the cardiology field. Neurology is expected to follow.
Unity will be able to use a robot to directly link patients with specialists in the Tristar system for instant evaluation. The robot offers a screen, multiple cameras with zooming capabilities and has multiple ports to plug stethoscopes and other necessary medical equipment for instant patient evaluation.
“If a patient comes into our Emergency Room with potential cardiac symptoms or stroke symptoms, we would be able to have that patient instantly evaluated by the appropriate specialist to make better and quicker decisions about whether that patient should be shipped to a bigger facility or can be cared for at our facility,” explained McCormick.
In addition to Emergency Room evaluation, the telemedicine robot will also be available to inpatients during their stay at Unity for consultations with specialists within the TriStar system.
For example, if a patient presents with a cardiac related event, that patient can have an initial consultation with a Cardiology Specialist, without having to travel to Nashville. The collaboration with Tristar will also give Unity broader access to Tristar’s extensive lists of specialists on staff for patient referral.
Unity ER nurses and other staff will undergo extensive training with the new robot before the program is officially launched. The telemedicine program is just one of the many exciting and new programs coming to Unity Medical Center since the hospital officially switched to a nonprofit status in the summer of 2019. Efforts are currently underway to renovate and open the hospital’s ICU, a project that is expected to be completed at the start of 2020.
“This is just the beginning of the effort to seriously overhaul and revamp medical care in Manchester,” said McCormick. “Our board of directors and our staff at Unity understand the need for improved patient access and quality care and that is what we are striving for every day.”
Unity Medical Center is located at 482 Interstate Dr. in Manchester.
