MANSFIELD — OhioHealth is a blazing a trail in the healthcare industry, according to one of the state’s top politicians.
“This hospital is a national leader in radiation dose reduction,” Congressman Pat Tiberi said Wednesday afternoon during a tour at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. “These two doctors (Dr. Mary Alton and Dr. Gregory Eaton) just showed me a machine that’s not only going to improve patient safety and patient outcome, but ultimately, reduce cost in healthcare.”
The machine he’s referring to is the latest cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) nuclear imaging technology, which allows patients to sit upright instead of lying flat for imaging procedures. One of two in the state, this technology also reduces the amount of radiation exposure while providing a crisper image, hospital officials said.
“It’s expensive technology,” Eaton said. “But you have to understand, it’s expensive technology upfront. What it does is it provides better images, so it’s a better quality test, and it’s a safer test because patients get less radiation and the staff gets less radiation.
“So down the road, if it’s a better test, less patients are getting invasive procedures, which is a cost-saving.”
Alton said the machine could reduce radiation exposure by 50 to 75 percent.
Also during the tour, hospital officials announced that OhioHealth Heart and Vascular Services was awarded $200,000 in grant money from the Richland County Foundation and the Ada Ford Foundation to evaluate the effectiveness of a home telemonitoring program for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients.
“I think this is probably going to be the most significant community collaboration that we’ve made to impact the lives of people in Richland County, and from our standpoint that is true to our mission,” said Brady Groves, President of the Richland County Foundation.
Eaton said the study will involve 100 patients for about one year starting next month.
“It entails looking at patients with a chronic disease like heart failure and following them with a telemedicine monitoring system that extends our ability to care for the patient in an environment such as home,” Eaton said.
The telemonitoring system monitors a number of parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level. It also enables communication between the patient and medical professionals.
“They can communicate with us if they have a concern or a problem, and we can talk to them over this device to make sure they’re doing OK,” he said.
Eaton hopes that the use of home-monitoring equipment will detect early deterioration of congestive heart failure patients and enable timely intervention by clinicians in order to reduce hospital readmissions.
“We feel one of the main benefits of using telemonitoring systems is to provide enhanced communication with healthcare providers, improve education to patients in the management of variables that influence their disease process, assuring compliance and understanding with medications and identifying early indicators of decompensation before they require hospitalization or emergent therapies,” he said. “We feel that by improving the overall medical condition of those suffering from a chronic disease, then the patient will have an enhanced opportunity for maintaining a productive lifestyle in our community.”
Tiberi said he was amazed by the visit, which spotlighted what’s happening in Ohio and Mansfield with respect to healthcare, Tiberi said.
As chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, Tiberi said he’s worked closely with OhioHealth on a bill that will be brought to the House floor next week. The bill deals primarily with outpatient payment systems, but has grown larger to include readmission.
“The partnership that we had with OhioHealth, the partnership with leadership of OhioHealth and the commitment and collaboration across the medical staff has been a win-win, and most importantly, the biggest winner is the patient,” Eaton said. “If the patient wins, the community wins, and we become a healthier, more vibrant community, which then will attract jobs to our area.”
