TELEMEDICINE PROGRAMS

TeleDerm Program

The interactive teledermatology practice at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and the ambulatory clinics at Massachusetts General Hospital provide patients on Nantucket Island with access to Harvard-affiliated dermatologists via interactive video conferencing.

Program Overview:
Through the use of communication technologies, patients are examined remotely by dermatologists. The clinic is held weekly for 2-3 hours, and digital imaging allows dermatologists to closely examine skin lesions while they converse with patients in real-time, viewing each other on monitors. Through remote, web-based monitoring, patients can reduce clinical visits for chronic diseases such as psoriasis or for conditions that require long-term follow-up, such as melanoma.

TeleStroke Program

Each year, stroke occurs in more than 700,000 patients, leaving many with disabilities and unable to resume their previous lifestyle or employment. This makes the social and economic impact of stroke one of the most devastating in medicine. Today, there is an FDA-approved medicine (tissue plasminogen activator, tPA) that in some patients can help reverse the disability of stroke if given within the first 3 hours of stroke.

Program Overview:

By establishing a telemedicine link using videoconferencing and image sharing technology, stroke specialists from Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospitals can examine patients while at Nantucket Cottage Hospital to help diagnose the patient's ailment and recommend a plan of care. The faster a patient receives proper treatment for stroke, the better the chances for recovery. The TeleStroke program is an important component of patients’ stroke care by helping to rapidly evaluate and treat stroke patients.