Telehealth in Heartland Health Region

Telehealth, a Saskatchewan Health program, enables rural and remote areas of the province to access medical consultation and services through videoconferencing links with designated sites. Heartland Health Region currently has two designated sites: Kindersley and District Health Centre and Unity Health Centre. Sites at the Rosetown and District Health Centre and the new Outlook and District Health Centre are to be added in the near future.

Telehealth enables clients/patients to access health services from interdisciplinary specialists who are not located in their home region. Telehealth provides more effective and cost-efficient access to health care for clinical appointments, consults, follow-ups, meetings and educational sessions. Telehealth lets Heartland physicians and residents access clinics like:

• Rural and Remote Memory Clinic
• Orthopaedic ADAPT Clinic
• Child Psychiatry
• Paediatric Surgery
• Paediatric Rheumatology
• Dermatology
• Internal Medicine
• Wound/Ostomy Clinics
• Obstetrics/ Gynaecology
• Rehab Medicine.

How do I access Telehealth?

To access health services through Telehealth, you must be referred to a specialist by your medical doctor. You can ask your doctor if this would be an appropriate consultation by Telehealth. The specialist will arrange the date and time, and you will be notified by letter. A few days before the appointment, the Telehealth Coordinator will contact you to answer any questions that you may have. Your "Telehealth Consult" with the specialist is a real-time videoconference connection, so you and your specialist will be able to see and hear each other just as if you were in the same room.

Can the Telehealth service be used for other purposes?

Telehealth can be used for a variety of other purposes, including:

• administration meetings, both provincially and inter-regionally
• meetings of professional associations and working groups
• focus groups for data collection for determining the needs of clients with Alzheimer disease and the best treatments for cardiac/ heart conditions
• education on living with chronic conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, managing your medications, and managing through life changes, like menopause

Where can I access the Telehealth service?

Telehealth presentations and clinics can be accessed in Heartland at the Kindersley and District Health Centre, the Unity Health Centre or the Telehealth Site nearest you. There are Telehealth sites in Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Regina, North Battleford and Lloydminster.

To access Telehealth in Heartland Health Region, contact the Telehealth Coordinator at 306-463-6150, ext. 304, or by email at adrienne.wendt@hrha.sk.ca.