A new project from Alberta Health Service with Oilfields General Hospital is making post operation recovery a little bit easier for patients.

Clinical Telehealth started in January and allows patients to consult with their doctors through a special video chat device, eliminating the need for them to travel to Calgary.

Oilfields Site Manager for Acute Long-Term care, and the Emergency Room Carla Ralph says Telehealth is a more efficient way to care for patients.

"If we were successful in changing all our non urgent transfers out of this facility to a video consult follow-up appointment, it has a projected savings of $150,000 a year," she says. "Additionally, EMS is not taken out of the community to serve a non urgent transfer, so it benefits all around."

Ralph says Telehealth is not just economical, it also makes recovery more comfortable for patients.

"They're surround by a care team that knows them, knows the situation, they don't have to travel to an unfamiliar environment, with definitely not the people that know them the best and know what they need. Then in a very timely manner we have a multi disciplinary discussion, and we can decide what the next steps are for them."

Ralph says Telelhealth could change the future for rural health care.

"I think that once we are successful at working through the process, and this becomes more mainstream, that most rural facilities would benefit from this for sure."

One of the patients using Telehealth, 85 year old James Heembrock says the experience has been invaluable.

"Well I tell ya, coming here was the roughest ride I've had for years," he laughed. "Anything to avoid that is really worthwhile."

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