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Regional hospital's manager of telemedicine awarded for commitment

Trina Diner has long been a champion of telemedicine and now she has the award to prove it.
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(John Thompson, tbnewswatch.com)

Trina Diner has long been a champion of telemedicine and now she has the award to prove it.

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre's manager of telemedicine and palliative care received a Champion of Telemedicine award from the Ontario Telemedicine Network on Tuesday.

The award was one of 14 across Ontario that the OTN handed out to one person in each of the Local Health Integration Network districts.

Diner was recognized for her commitment to palliative care patients and how , She reflected on how 80 per cent of surveyed patients want to stay in their homes, rather than in hospital. Finding a technological solution to that, she said, required combining her self-confessed nerdiness with romanticism. 

"I learned about how these patients can wind up in our emergency department because the family isn't sure of what to do and they don't feel as supportive as they could," she said. 

"I started to wonder how can telemedicine help these patients?'"

Her romantic notion was marrying health care with mobile technology. Over months, her team tested a model in which physicians communicated with patients and families in their homes through tablets. The tests found weekly virtual meetings with doctors improved patient anxiety and autonomy.

"The magic in this model is that there's no clinician with the patient and family. They're by themselves. They're independent and able to have their visits with their physicians," she explained.

"When you're involved with telemedicine that way and you see the benefit for the patient and for the family, it's hard not to be passionate about it."

Julie McKay is one of those patients. She calls herself a telemedicine "frequent flyer," having virtually met with her physician nine times. She said the care she receives is always consistent.

"Trina's leadership skills and commitment have created a department that is integral in the health of patietns and the awesome ability to access specialists from all over," McKay told a crowd of hospital employees gathered for the ceremony.

"And saving yourself, individually and the government -- the community -- time, energy and money. It's beautiful technology. I love it and I'm sure it's going to develop more in the years to come."

 

 





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