OTN
What a year it’s been for Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN)!
With all the hard work, dedication and passion our partners and employees have devoted to delivering innovative telemedicine solutions, it comes to no surprise that telemedicine continues to grow both in scope and adoption. Last year alone, OTN supported more than 390,000 patient consultations, working with 1,300 healthcare organizations and more than 8,000 healthcare providers in 1,748 sites across Ontario. As a result, almost 260 million kilometers of patient travel was avoided. That represents nearly 330 trips to the moon and back!
Telemedicine is truly transforming our healthcare system with a new model of care delivery – one that improves access, increases... | |
The next frontier for a sustainable health system is home and community care, according to Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins. At the recent Health Quality Ontario Transformation conference, Minister Hoskins talked about the need for a patient- and family-centred health system.
Minister at #HQT2014 states next frontier is home & community health. @OTNtelemedicine Telehomecare can help us achieve this.
— Angela Nickoloff (@2rhods) November 20, 2014
At OTN, we’re... | |
The next frontier for a sustainable health system is home and community care, according to Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins. At the recent Health Quality Ontario Transformation conference, Minister Hoskins talked about the need for a patient- and family-centred health system.
Minister at #HQT2014 states next frontier is home & community health. @OTNtelemedicine Telehomecare can help us achieve this.
— Angela Nickoloff (@2rhods) November 20, 2014
At OTN, we’re... | |
The next frontier for a sustainable health system is home and community care, according to Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins. At the recent Health Quality Ontario Transformation conference, Minister Hoskins talked about the need for a patient- and family-centred health system.
Minister at #HQT2014 states next frontier is home & community health. @OTNtelemedicine Telehomecare can help us achieve this.
— Angela Nickoloff (@2rhods) November 20, 2014
At OTN, we’re... | |
The rate of change in the digital world is nothing short of dazzling. The way we work, communicate and collaborate continues to evolve with new services and applications being introduced every day.
So it gives me great pleasure to announce the launch of the OTNhub, the new one-stop telemedicine service that delivers enhanced convenience and functionality to Ontario’s healthcare providers.
When the integration of OTN services is fully completed in the near future, the OTNhub will allow Primary Care Providers, Specialty Care Providers (specialists and allied health providers) and Healthcare Organizations to access all services relevant to them with a single sign-in. From... | |
What do playing Monopoly, driving a car, and baking cupcakes have in common? They all have rules to be followed. Generally, rules aim to ensure fairness, protect from harm, and instruct on how best to do something.
As a regulatory body, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) maintains a set of rules, in the form of policies, to guide physicians on how best to provide patient care. The CPSO revises these polices from time to time, with input from key stakeholders. This past July and August, the CPSO held a public consultation on draft revisions to its Telemedicine policy.
Given our extensive expertise in telemedicine, OTN submitted a response to this where we proposed changes to the Telemedicine policy that will help... | |
OTN Teledermatology is a free service allows primary care physicians to securely send a digital photograph and brief description of patient’s skin condition to a dermatologist.
Here are five pearls to benefit most from OTN Teledermatology:
1) Ensure to provide essential OTN Teledermatology referral information:
Referring GP info: GP name, MOH/billing (not CPSO) number, phone number
Patient information: correct name, DOB, valid health card and correct version
Ideally, one issue per patient consult and avoid multiple submissions
Brief relevant history, pertinent positives and negatives
Details of drug plan: e.g. work plan or ODB
Good pictures, i.e.... | |
Have you and your telemedicine colleagues ever wondered how often you use telemedicine compared to other areas of the province? Or how much telemedicine activity occurred in one LHIN versus another LHIN? Or what kinds of therapeutic areas of care were most popular over OTN’s network?
We’ve revamped the way we present our provincial and LHIN data to include historical information that can be displayed in a series of interactive Google Charts. Here’s a quick overview of what you can see with our new interactive LHIN charts (click to view):
... | |
Health & Wellness App: Screenshot from <30 Days iPhone app by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Apps have grown in popularity over the last few years; in fact, Apple’s App Store has over a million apps with many focusing on healthcare. Suffice to say, apps are becoming very important to consumers in North America. I see apps as being in two categories: the first category is wellness, for example apps that deal with smoking cessation, weight loss, healthy eating choices, lifestyle issues for hypertension, etc. These apps can be useful as coaching aids for people to self-manage. The second category is apps that assist... | |
Health & Wellness App: Screenshot from <30 Days iPhone app by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Apps have grown in popularity over the last few years; in fact, Apple’s App Store has over a million apps with many focusing on healthcare. Suffice to say, apps are becoming very important to consumers in North America. I see apps as being in two categories: the first category is wellness, for example apps that deal with smoking cessation, weight loss, healthy eating choices, lifestyle issues for hypertension, etc. These apps can be useful as coaching aids for people to self-manage. The second category is apps that assist... | |
OTN is an independent, not-for-profit
organization funded by the
Government of Ontario.