MILWAUKEE – Aurora Health Care today announced the further deployment of a technology solution helping Aurora to optimize emergency medical care. Launched at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in early 2016, this technology solution will now be expanded to Aurora West Allis Medical Center and Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha.
The solution from Brookfield-based EmOpti, Inc. allows patients who seek care at an emergency department at any one of these three facilities to be seen by an Aurora physician via video when they arrive, with another caregiver right at the patient’s side. The offsite physician can serve multiple Aurora emergency departments at once.
“This solution helps us get orders started immediately, obtain results quicker and treat people faster – ultimately, it helps us provide an enhanced patient experience to all who visit the ED,” said Paul Coogan, MD, president of Aurora Emergency Services and an ED physician at Aurora Sinai. “That is critically important for an ED that is as busy as the one at Aurora Sinai.” The department had approximately 60,000 visits in 2015.
Initial results showed that patients waited less time to begin treatment and needed less time for their care. Meanwhile, the rate of people leaving without being seen by a physician was reduced, and patient satisfaction was increased.
“EmOpti’s innovation has helped us provide high-quality emergency care more efficiently to our patients,” said Michael Rodgers, director of strategic innovations for Aurora. “At the same time, we’re better able to make the most of our available resources.”
In the future, Aurora plans to use the solution within select urgent care clinics. By having an advanced practice provider onsite, with virtual oversight from an Aurora physician, the clinics will be able to stay open longer hours – enhancing patient access and convenience.
EmOpti is engaged with multiple organizations nationally to deploy its technical solutions, said Edward Barthell, MD, an entrepreneur who founded other health care technology ventures and who practiced emergency medicine in Wisconsin for more than 20 years.
“We are excited to bring new technologies to the emergency medicine market to reduce delays, improve outcomes and help patients across the country,” Dr. Barthell said.