Eastern Montana is Wired for Care – The Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network

Delivering medical care in the wide open space that is Eastern Montana is difficult, but technology has eased the task.

Telemedicine has made seeking care and delivering it easier and less costly for hospitals, practitioners and patients.

Take Dr. Mark Irion. Until a couple of years ago, Irion, the radiologist at Holy Rosary Healthcare in Miles City, was on the job or on call, 24/7.

If his beeper went off while he was at home, Irion drove to the hospital in town to view a patient’s CT scan or MRI or X-ray. A teleradiology hookup funded by Holy Rosary’s sister hospital, St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, has changed that.

Irion can view diagnostic scans on his home computer. And because of the network, Irion can share on-call duties with Dr. Anne Hingle at Central Montana Medical Center in Lewistown. On weekends when Irion is off, Hingle renders preliminary opinions on diagnostic scans she gets from Holy Rosary. Irion does the same thing for Hingle when she is off.

"I can walk into the house, call Lewistown and give a first report," Irion said. "It speeds up service and improves the quality of life for us as well."

The Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network http://www.emtn.org

By SUSAN OLP
Of The Gazette Staff

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/06/13/build/state/26-wired-care.inc