Regional Medical Center at Lubec
43 S. Lubec Rd.
Lubec, ME 04652

Ron Emerson, RN, BSN
Ph: 207-287-4060
Fax: 207-287-3020
www.rmcl.org/

Network Partners: Nursing homes, physicians’ offices, pain management specialist, wound care specialist, allergist, dermatologist, primary care providers, occupational specialist, immunology, hospitals, State bureau of health, and mental health counseling.

Project Purpose: To develop an open architecture telemedicine network that increases accessibility to services in six nursing homes in rural Maine. This project will increase connectivity between nursing homes and their primary care providers and bring specialty services previously not available to this population. It will also increase communication between family members and patients by use of POTS-based videophones.

Outcomes Expected: This project will work to develop a telemedicine system that develops the following outcomes: approximate the care received through in-person visits; result in a substantially greater number
of rural patients getting appropriate diagnosis and treatment; contribute to successful treatment in a timely and cost effective manner; and provide more effective teamwork between primary care providers, specialist and patients. Nursing homes GPRA documentation and evaluation forms from
patients/providers will be collected.

Service Area: Nursing homes and providers are geographically spread from the Southern town of Biddeford, Maine, to the Northern-most town in Maine, Frenchville. Under this project, the following are MUAs and HPSAs: Washington: 6 PC HPSAs, 5 DCPSAs, 3 MHPSAs, 9 MUAs; Aroostook: 10 PC HPSAs, 7DCPSAs, 4 MHPSAs, 6 MUAs; Androscoggin: 1 PC HPSA, 2 DCPSAs, 1 MHPSA, 3 MUAs.

Services Provided: Planned services include primary care, wound care, pain management, psychiatry, occupational health, pulmonology, asthma/allergy and immunology.

Equipment: PolyCom (H.323) and MP Viewstations with AMD 2500 hand held cameras and AMD Care Companion Videophones.

Transmission: ISDN at 128K to 384K over leased lines for video. POTS lines for videophones.