Riverside Health System has launched one of the first health collaboration programs of its kind in Virginia, which uses teleconferencing to provide life-saving emergency treatment and advanced outpatient care to patients in rural markets.

Peter Glagola, Riverside’s public relations director, said the first phase of the program links emergency physicians in Riverside Tappahannock Hospital with specialists at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News.

By the end of the first quarter of 2012, Glagola said, similar teleconferencing services are planned to link Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester and Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital on the Eastern Shore with Riverside Regional specialists.

To start, the program is aimed at assisting patients who are believed to be suffering from stroke, Glagola said. Later, the teleconferencing will be expanded to include other specialties.

For now, when a potential stroke patient arrives at Riverside Tappahannock, a Riverside neurologist in Newport News will receive a page. Using a computer, the neurologist can immediately dial the teleconferencing unit located at the remote patient’s bedside to examine the patient remotely and make treatment recommendations.

The teleconferencing can take place from a number of places, including many Riverside physician offices and at Riverside Regional, said Lisa Brewer, the health care system’s administration director and director of marketing and online development. The teleconferencing unit, which includes a high-definition camera and a computer, provides "a higher level of care" than could regularly be provided at a more rural hospital, she said.

Although many patients can remain to be treated at the outlying medical care facility, Brewer said, some can be rushed, as needed, by the Life Evac air ambulance to Riverside Regional.

Glagola said Riverside selected stroke as the initial focus of teleconferencing in this region as it’s the third leading cause of death and the number one cause of disability in the United States.

"Faster and better care can mean a better outcome when it comes to stroke treatment," said Dr. John Livingstone, medical director at Riverside Regional. Livingstone, a member of the Virginia Stroke Systems task force, said that "through telemedicine, Riverside will be able to deliver the same high-quality care to all of our patients, no matter where they live."