Hospital uses telemedicine to diagnose, treat concussion victims

Centura Health has added a teleconcussion program in four rural Colorado areas, according to a report from Hospitals & Health Networks. Using two-way audio and visual communication, the program gives primary care physicians access to expert secondary opinions about individuals who have or may have suffered concussions. It also assists with concussion management and prevention advice for coaches of young athletes who compete in high-contact sports.

Rocky Khosla, M.D., a family doctor in southern Colorado’s Centura Health Physician Group, developed the program in 2011. He’s been interested in concussion treatment since the early 1980s, but has witnessed an explosion of related information and technology over the last five years.

Khosla first set up a concussion management program at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo, Colo., that works with kids in sports like football and hockey, and conducts impact testing and establishes treatment protocols. Jennifer Kagan, a trauma and emergency department nurse in Frisco, Colo., helped Khosla to expand the program.

Centura Health offers telehealth in a range of areas, from pulmonology and cardiology to genetic counseling and diabetes education. In the ED, telehealth is used for stroke victims, telepsychiatry, infectious disease consultation and more.