March 2012
OTN Update
Online Resource Guide is here
Check out OTN’s new on-line Telemedicine Resource
Guide, developed as a “one stop shop” for the
policies, processes, best practices and materials
that TMCs use daily to support the integration
of Telemedicine in their organizations. Available
in Member Services at otn.ca, the Telemedicine
Resource Guide will be updated regularly.
NE LHIN and next month in the Central and South
West LHINs. If you are interested in learning about
the new Clinical Certificate training session in your
area, please contact your OTN Regional Manager.
Features:
• Chapters that provide an overview of functional
•
•
•
•
areas of Telemedicine and the resources
associated with them.
Easy navigation, using manual arrow bars at the
bottom of your screen.
Easy-to-use “Search” function.
Ability to print one or two pages or the whole
book.
An easy feedback mechanism.
We hope you like the Guide and put it to good use!
TTY now available
In compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians
with Disabilities Act (AODA), OTN’s Contact Centre
has been equipped with TTY software - a special
device that lets people who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or speech-impaired use the telephone to
communicate, by allowing them to type messages
back and forth to one another instead of talking and
listening. The TTY number is: 1-855-368-6889.
Clinical TM Certification Course
Almost 50 participants from across the North West
region attended the first Clinical TMC Certificate
training session last month, which provided an
opportunity for new and experienced clinical TMCs
to learn (or revisit!) the practical techniques and
theoretical concepts of using Telemedicine to
provide care. Future sessions are planned across the
province, with one later this month for sites in the
Telemedicine’s Leader
Your Voice
OTN is committed to providing the very best service to our Members. In this
new column, we’ll outline some of the services and processes we are putting
in place – thanks to your valuable feedback. You asked and we listened.
Bilingual Service Now Available
Dual Screens now available
Beginning April 1, most webcasts will be able to
show one window for presenters and a second
window for content. This will make it easier to see
small font sizes and image details while watching the
presenter at the same time. Only videoconferences
set to broadcast People and Content will be
displayed in this manner.
OTN’s Contact Centre and Service Desk now
have bilingual associates who can support calls
in French. Callers contacting OTN can press 9
immediately for service for French and follow
the instructions provided.
If you have a suggestion about how OTN can
improve its services, please send it to [email protected].
Updating your contact
information
Effective immediately, the Contact Centre Customer
Support Team will handle updates to your contact
information. Please provide the following details
with your update:
• Contact Details:
»» Customers’ name
»» Title
»» Contact Role (optional)
»» Address
»» Telephone contact number
»» Fax number (optional)
»» Email address
»» Site / system number(s)
• Brief description of change
• If a contact person has changed, please confirm
whether there is a replacement and provide
those contact details
Here’s how to send us your changes:
E-mail:[email protected]
Telephone:
Fax:
1-866-454-6861
1-888-879-2807
Online Contact Update Request Form:
http://www.otn.ca/en/members/resource-library
(email form to [email protected])
Webconferencing works!
OTN Webconferencing allows you to hold education
events and meetings using your computer, sharing
content and more. Members logged 1,484 hours of
use on this service in February.
OTN has purchased Premium Adobe Connect
accounts with up to 100 concurrent users per event,
available exclusively to Members at discount pricing.
Please speak with your Regional Manager or contact
[email protected] to purchase an account.
Demo Days:
• Wednesday, March 28 from 3 pm to 4 pm
• Friday, March 30 from 1 pm to 2 pm
Email Allan Zahara at [email protected] at least 24
hours in advance to register.
Break a record, win a prize
Help us break our Learning records and be eligible
to win one of four iPod Touches!
For every new, hosted education videoconferencing
event or webcast scheduled by March 31, your name
will be entered into the draw for one of four iPod
Touches. If you’ve already booked an education
event as a videoconference, book it as a webcast,
too!
Fill out this form and
email it to information@
otn.ca by March 30.
Each entry is worth one
ballot. Winners will be
contacted by their OTN
Regional Manager the
week of April 9.
Telemedicine’s Leader
Learning Centre update
Thanks to all TMCs who post open events to the
Learning Centre. We’ve seen tremendous success
with:
• 22,000 views since launch
• 5,400 views in February
OTN Telemedicine best
practices series a hit
Don’t forget to join us for complimentary lunchhour refresher training. To register, visit the Learning
Centre and search “lunch & learn”.
Presenter
Event ID
March 14
Understanding
Webcasting
Andrew
19243378
March 21
Brushing up on
TeleDerm
Hugh
19243815
April 3
Using your Littman
3200 TeleSteth
Hugh
20534169
April 4
Ncompass Clinical
Best Practices
Roger
19243642
April 11
Using your Polycom
remote control
Roger
19243405
April 18
Clinical Video
Conference Best
Practices
Hugh
19243888
April 25
Using Clinical
Peripherals (AMD
Patient Camera &
ENT Scope)
Andrew
20534306
May 2
Ncompass NonClinical Best
Practices
Roger
Best Practices
for Showing
Presentations
Andrew
May 9
Subject
Click to view the presentation (presenters and
slides).
New Telesteths on sale
Now we want to do more! Help build Ontario’s
health care education network by posting to the
Learning Centre whenever appropriate. If you aren’t
yet familiar with the Learning Centre, visit learning.otn.ca and sign up for Personal Learning
Alerts.
Date
and archived and is available for viewing at OTN’s
Webcasting Centre.
19243601
19244433
Missed the big Dermatology
CME?
The new OTN Telesteth Kits are available for
purchase. The kit costs $658 plus tax and consists
of:
• a Littmann 3200 digital stethoscope, Telesteth
Server License, and a Bluetooth dongle;
•
•
•
•
a back-up Bluetooth dongle ;
a USB cable to extend the reach of Telesteth;
shipping; and
advanced Exchange Hardware Warranty
Replacements.
Please speak with your Regional Manager about
purchasing a kit and setting up a Telesteth endpoint.
Your Regional Manager can confirm whether you
have the right PC and Internet connection and
provide you with a quote and order form.
AMD SmartSteth
decommissioning
We now have more than 130 Telesteths on the
Network and are preparing to decommission
the AMD SmartSteth. An email outlining the
decommissioning process will be sent to all
SmartSteth sites. Please let your Regional Manager
know if you are still actively using the SmartSteth.
If you are not, please do not remove the service
from the OTN Network as the SmartSteth PC has
information on it that must be destroyed securely.
TM Directory growing
There are new consultants and programs posted on
the Telemedicine Directory every day.
Log in to the TM Directory to find more people and
places that make Telemedicine work!
Speak with to your Regional Manager or email us at
[email protected] to develop a profile.
No worries, we PVR’d it for you
OTN hosted a CME on general dermatology and
Otn.teledermSF® (OTN’s store forward dermatology
service) - presented by dermatologists Drs. Ben
Barankin and Anatoli Freiman. The event, attended
by more than 60 OTN sites, has been recorded
Telemedicine’s Leader
Kudos!
Cystic Fibrosis Clinic launched
Congrats to Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital
and Sudbury’s Health Sciences North’s Cystic
Fibrosis Clinic, which hosted a formal launch of its
successful adult CF clinic last month. Although
this was a “formal” launch, the program has already
used OTN for more than 56 clinic consultations!
able to continue to receive the care he needed while
remaining close to home. Mr. McKeown praised the
service, saying the therapists were wonderful and
that it was a convenient service.
Going the distance for Cardiac Care
Congratulations to Nurse Practitioner Patti Staples
and Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston who recently
launched a Congestive Heart Failure Clinic that
links Patti to patients for care at a distance. Using
OTN, Patti can see her patient on the monitor, listen
to heart sounds through the digital stethoscope
and visualize the patient’s jugular venous pressure
through a handheld camera operated by a
Registered Nurse at the patient’s side.
“This kind of electronic visit takes longer but the
technology works well for routine assessment and
follow-up,” says Patti. “Patients skip hours of travel
time, which can be stressful for older patients.
So far, people have appreciated the option of a
videoconference visit. The technology also brings
us into closer partnership with family health care
teams in the region.”
Telestroke in the North
The Lake of the Woods District Hospital’s Stroke
Telepractice program was recently featured in
the Canadian Audiology and Speech-Language
Pathology Association’s (CASLPA) eCommunique.
The team has been successful in facilitating
Telepractice for a local Stroke Survivor, has two
Adult speech-language pathologists providing
telepractice to Northern Ontario residents, and has
made valuable connections to support exploration
of Telepractice in Pediatrics for Northern Ontario.
Way to go!
“This service is going to be very beneficial to the
people in this area,” he said. “I thank (everyone
involved) for the great help I received.” The
program was also featured in the latest CASLPA’s
eCommunique.
Thrombosis Program moving into the
Valley
Kudos to the Renfrew Hospital which recently joined
The Ottawa Hospital’s (TOH) Regional Telehealth
Thrombosis Program, bringing care close to home
for residents in the Champlain LHIN. The team has
developed program guidelines and referral packages
to match TOH’s program, linking patients to the
services they need via Telemedicine.
Please let us know about good news telemedicine
stories from your organization. We’ll feature one
in each issue of OTN Update. Send your stories to
[email protected]. Thanks!
Patients say it best
Recently, patient Frank McKeown shared his
telemedicine story via OTN during a Quinte Health
Care (QHC) Board Quality Committee meeting.
Mr. McKeown was a patient of the Speech and
Language Therapy program at QHC and was
able to continue his therapy via OTN, eliminating
a four hour return trip for one hour of therapy.
Thanks to the support of the QHC Telemedicine
Coordinator, Lynda Lesperance; the SpeechLanguage Pathologist at QHC Belleville General
Hospital, Shirley Williams; and the incredible staff
at QHC North Hastings Hospital, Mr. McKeown was
Follow us on Twitter
@OTNtelemedicine
Past issues are archived on the OTN website.
Please contact your Regional Manager or Jane Petricic,
Communications Specialist, [email protected] with any
questions or comments.
Telemedicine’s Leader