Henderson, NE – The first phase of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust grant has been installed. eEmergency has officially “gone live†at Henderson Health Care. eEmergency is an innovative concept using high definition audio/video equipment, linking local rural emergency rooms to emergency trained physicians and nurses at a centralized hub, 24/7.
How eEmergency Works
eEmergency is part of Avera eCAREâ„¢, a suite of innovative technology applications developed to improve patient safety and support the rural health care workforce. This innovative service, now available at Henderson Health Care (HHC) links two-way video equipment in local emergency rooms to emergency-trained physicians at a central hub in Sioux Falls, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides patients immediate access to physician-rendered emergency care in their local community.
“Board-certified emergency medicine physicians take a team approach,†says Dr. Don Kosiak, Avera eCARE Services medical director. “It is best when one of us does the critical thinking and one of us is doing hands-on care, so eEmergency is a play out of this team approach in the rural setting,†Dr. Kosiak explains, noting the access it gives rural providers, who often practice alone, to a consult on request.
Helping Patients and Families
Some of the ways eEmergency supports patient care in the local community include:
• Providing the availability of physician-rendered emergency care 24 hours a day, regardless of location
• Streamlining access to specialists for better outcomes for patients with trauma, heart attacks and other emergency care issues
• Supporting activation of emergency transport teams as early as possible, saving time
• Providing support when the local facility experiences multiple emergency cases at once
• Reducing unnecessary transfers
• Assuring patients’ families access to a specialty consultation at home
“eEmergency gives us the ability to extend and enhance the level of health care in our community,†says Cheryl Brown, HHC administrator. “It elevates the level of care that we can support in our Emergency Department to the point where we are able to give better care in our community and keep patients here. This is because we have a great team standing right beside us at all times – at our fingertips when we need them.â€
About Avera
Avera Health is the leading health system in the region providing high-quality care close to home at 297 locations in 95 communities. Avera’s unique partnership model makes possible a wide range of medical services through the expertise of specialists, sophisticated technology and cutting-edge research to meet the health care needs of local communities and providers.
