Cardiology Consult & Procedures

Part three of our five-part Telemedicine Services series on the blog. Read part one, Infectious Disease & Prevention, here, and part two, Clinical Pharmacist Services, here.

“Often, smaller hospitals or more rural clinics and facilities find themselves without access to an onsite cardiologist. Using telemedicine for cardiology consults and procedures allows patients to have access to that care without having to leave their primary institution or travel,” says Dr. Adam Gepner, a Cardiologist for Beam Healthcare.

Telecardiology gives facilities and physicians the opportunity to leverage technology to provide care and extend the reach of that care well beyond the geographic constraints rural clinics and hospitals might face. Telemedicine means physicians can provide a real-time assessment without any need to travel for either the patient or the cardiologist.

Expanding on the efficiencies of telemedicine for cardiology, the Journal of the American Heart Association says, “These tools are allowing cardiologists to extend their geographic reach, helping them to identify cardiac problems before they become catastrophic, and affording them tools to help smooth care transitions.”

The array of cardiology services available via telemedicine is substantial, and growing wider every day as both technology and policy progress. Beam’s telecardiology program tailors its services to the needs of the community clinics or hospitals it partners with and offers a platform capable of delivering a wide variety of services depending on those needs.

Dr. Gepner continues, “If a patient is in the hospital and they have an acute cardiac problem, we can assess the patient via telehealth and make recommendations for diagnostic testing or treatment strategies.”

In addition to assessing acute cardiac issues and providing testing and treatment strategies, Beam’s team of cardiologists are available to interpret cardiology tests such as echocardiograms, stress tests, and Holter monitors.

Employing telemedicine for cardiology consults and procedures boasts significant cost-savings as well. Dr. Gepner explains, “The savings come from not having to worry about hiring an on-site staff member when the clinical cardiology volume may not be enough to maintain fulltime cardiologist positions. BEAM allows your clinic or your hospital to effectively carry out cardiology services without having someone on full-time staff.”

The savings don’t end with staffing, however. The Journal of the American Heart Association states, “Emerging evidence also indicates that primary care electronic consultations with cardiologists can reduce emergency room visits. A study that included 36 primary care physicians and 590 patients found that asynchronous electronic consultations with a cardiologist could resolve about two-thirds of cardiac concerns without a specialist visit and reduced cardiac-related emergency visits during the 6-month follow-up period.”

Whatever your facility’s cardiology needs, Beam’s team of board-certified Cardiologist are ready to work with you toward increasing access to care and cost-savings through the power of telemedicine.

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