LOVE YOUR HEART
4 ways to keep it
beating strong for
Valentine’s Day.
SEE PAGE 3
DIABETES WALK
Join us to raise
awareness of this
common disease.
SEE PAGE 4
healthscene
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Platteville, WI
Permit No. 7
Golden Valley
Memorial Healthcare
1600 N. Second St.
Clinton, MO 64735
N E W S F R O M G O L D E N V A L L E Y M E M O R I A L H E A L T H C A R E
●
W I N T E R 2 0 1 7
From stethoscopes to CT scans and anesthesia to electronic health records, advances in medical
technology have helped improve the lives of patients everywhere—including those in our
community. At Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare (GVMH), we’re committed to offering
big-city care close to home through the use of technology. Here is an up-close look at three of
our most recent technological advances.
—Continued on page 2
H
IGH-TECH,
H
IGH-QUALITY CARE
Meet our
tech guru
Before he became
a doctor, Bill R.
Dailey, MD, MS,
MSMI, worked
on a nuclear
submarine and
earned a chemical
engineering
degree. “I’m
insatiably curious,” he says.
Here are some other
interesting facts about this
tech-savvy Chief of Medical
Information at GVMH:
■
■
He is a board-certified
clinical informaticist and family
physician. He sees patients four
days a week.
■
■
He programs computers and
uses digital-quality data to help
doctors and nurses provide
better patient care.
■
■
He is exploring the use of
virtual reality technology to help
patients feel more comfortable
during certain procedures.
“It’s a lot less
impersonal than
you might think,”
Dr. Dailey says. “It’s
just like the doctor
is standing right in
front of them.”
OTHER HIGH-
TECH TOOLS
AVAILABLE
AT GVMH
■
■
CT scanner
■
■
MRI machine
■
■
Electronic health records
■
■
Digital operating suites
Telehealth robots
Two telemedicine robots now allow patients
at GVMH to be seen by stroke experts and
other medical specialists from miles away
via two-way video exams.
The InTouch Health units can be
wheeled to a patient’s bedside. The
sophisticated set-up includes a camera,
a microphone and even a stethoscope.
During an exam, remote doctors log on to
a computer, tablet or other device, and see
and speak with patients.
“Because the
technology’s so good, you
can zoom in and see nothing
but the patient’s pupils if
necessary,” says Dr. Bill
Dailey, Chief of Medical
Information at GVMH.
■
■
How it helps:
In the
emergency department,
the technology is used to
ensure timely treatments for
stroke. GVMH partners with leading stroke
experts from Research Medical Center in
Kansas City. Using the robot, these distant
neurologists examine patients at GVMH
and quickly determine if they’re eligible
for clot-busting treatments that can help
prevent permanent paralysis.
In other instances, the technology has
been used to provide remote psychiatric
consultations or evaluations of hospitalized
patients who have a change in condition
during the night.
In this way, telemedicine allows rural
hospitals like GVMH to provide great
patient care that would otherwise be
financially difficult to sustain, Dr. Dailey
says.
What do patients think of the virtual
visits? “It’s a lot less impersonal than you
might think,” Dr. Dailey says. “It’s just like
the doctor is standing right in front of them.”
■
■
Available:
24 hours a day
■
■
Purchased:
Both robots arrived at
different times within the past two years.