Butler Health System has found a valuable tool in virtual medicine.

According to Dr. Norman Beale III, BHS's chief innovation officer, the system has been working with remote health networks and technologies for the past two years, and the results have never been more apparent than they are today.

“Butler is advanced in regard to the importance of innovation,” Beale said.

Every day doctors are completing virtual visits over the phone with patients using their smartphones or tablets. These visits sometimes include other pieces of technology that can take health measurements to track heart rate, blood pressure and even temperature.

“Now, we have these platforms that we deployed to all of our outpatient settings, so we can see them all in their homes,” Beale said.

He added that a lot of times these measurements are taken by the patients themselves and relayed to the provider for assessment, but sometimes neighbors or at-home nurses can assist.

He said these visits provide a unique experience that keeps sick patients home and away from others. It also keeps healthy or at-risk patients away from a potentially risky environment.

“The patients and the providers have been really great in adopting this form of encounters,” Beale said. “I had physicians just yesterday talk about how emotional some patients were about being able to connect.”

In addition to physical visits to a doctor, this technology is also assisting doctor-to-doctor interactions, whether it's from ICU to ICU at different hospitals or from a floor dedicated to coronavirus to a different department in the hospital.“They have plenty of tools attached to either side,” Beale said.Through technology doctors can check with patients more efficiently and offer them emotional support. But having support from family and friends can't be replaced.Since the outbreak of the virus, BHS, like many hospitals across the country, has restricted visitation. To help patients cope with missed loved ones, patients may request one of a “few dozen” tablets the BHS staff has on hand to make a call to a loved one with some assistance.Beale said this type of interaction is applicable during the coronavirus pandemic, but could be implemented any time a patient needs to be isolated.“I think a lot of the work here is going to help patients socialize and normalize this technology,” Beale said. “Maybe it's the new normal for now, but maybe it's the new normal in the future.”Beale said the coronavirus has been a terrible menace to society, but it has proven that telehealth has a future in medicine and the potential to grow. He said telehealth's benefits today validate the work he and others on his Innovation Team have researched over the past two years.“BHS is very proud that we've been able to do this so swiftly and so efficiently,” Beale said. “We have very resilient people in Western PA. We're going to get through this together, and this has been an excellent tool to accomplish it.”