Physicians of the Zane Cohen Centre
PACE
What is the PACE IBD Telemedicine Program?
Through support from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) centre at Mount Sinai Hospital has embarked on an innovative project to improve access to quality IBD care for individuals living in rural and remote communities throughout Ontario. As a participant site within the Promoting Access and Care through Centres of Excellence (PACE) network, our IBD team is conducting eVisits through our newly launched telemedicine program.
The IBD telemedicine program is dedicated to serving patients living with Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis who reside in underserviced locations throughout Ontario. We accept referrals for adult patients living at least 100 kms from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Patients in the IBD telemedicine program have access to real-time medical consultations from Gastroenterologists who specialize in IBD management. Telemedicine essentially involves a health care specialist speaking to a patient through videoconferencing technology similar to Skype or FaceTime, but within a secured computer network. Through the use of this technology, our program endeavors to minimize the disruption, stress and cost that can be associated with travel to Toronto for IBD related medical appointments.
For further information regarding the PACE IBD telemedicine program, please contact:
Peter Habashi, RN, MN, BScN, HBSc - PACE Telemedicine Coordinator
Mount Sinai Hospital - Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases
Phone: 416-586-4800 x 2188 Fax: 416-586-5971
PaceIBD.MSH@SinaiHealth.ca
Preparing for your Telemedicine Appointment
Once your referral has been triaged by one of our IBD specialists, you will be contacted by the IBD Telemedicine nurse from Mount Sinai Hospital with the date, time and location of your telemedicine appointment. To get to know you better, we ask you to complete and return the new patient questionnaire prior to your appointment.
What Happens at a Telemedicine Visit?
On the day of your appointment, you will go to a healthcare centre or hospital near your home that offers OTN telemedicine services. When you arrive for your appointment, you will meet with a local telemedicine coordinator, who is often a nurse. They will explain to you what will happen during the visit. The telemedicine coordinator will ask you to sign a consent form that will permit us to conduct your telemedicine visit. You are welcome to bring a family member or friend to the telemedicine appointment.
During the visit, you will use 2-way video conferencing to see, hear and talk to your IBD specialist about your current condition and plan of care. Basically, a telemedicine visit is similar to a regular visit with the only difference being that the physician sees and talks to you through a television or computer screen. You will be in a private room for the duration of your appointment. The telemedicine nurse coordinator will stay with you for the duration of the visit and may be asked by the IBD consultant to perform certain components of the physical examination.
The consulting IBD specialist will have your relevant health information that has been sent by your community physician, as well as has your completed patient questionnaire. As specialist appointments can move along quite quickly, please make sure that you bring a list of any questions that you may have for the physician.
Following your appointment, the IBD Telemedicine Nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital will contact you to arrange any medication prescriptions, laboratory testing or follow-up appointments that have been recommended by the IBD specialist.
PACE IBD Telemedicine Research
The PACE IBD Telemedicine Program is currently welcoming participants into Promoting Access and Care at Centres of Excellence (PACE) telemedicine study.
What are we studying?
As an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patient, you are an ideal candidate to determine whether there is a difference in the quality of IBD care received via a telemedicine network as compared to in person care received at a Centre of IBD Excellence. While we know that there is substantial geographical variation in the proportion of newly diagnosed IBD patients who receive gastroenterology care within the first year of diagnosis, it is not clear whether an IBD telemedicine will be effective in delivering high quality specialist IBD care to patients in underserved areas. Therefore, we are conducting this study to see whether an IBD telemedicine network is effective in delivering high quality IBD care to patients in underserved areas, by comparing telemedicine IBD care to in-person IBD care received at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Geoffrey Nguyen
Co-Investigators: Dr. Adam Weizman, Dr. Mark Silverberg, Dr. Kenneth Croitoru, Dr. Hillary Steinhart
Sponsor: Crohn’s and Colitis Canada
Who are we looking for?
All new patients over the age 18 years who are receiving telemedicine IBD care in underserved communities or in-person IBD care at Mount Sinai Hospital from a participating study gastroenterologist will be approached to participate in the study.
For further information regarding the PACE IBD telemedicine program, please contact:
Peter Habashi, RN, MN, BScN, HBSc - PACE Telemedicine Coordinator
Mount Sinai Hospital - Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases
Phone: 416-586-4800 x 2188 Fax: 416-586-5971
PaceIBD.MSH@SinaiHealth.ca
Our Telemedicine Team
The Mount Sinai Hospital Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Centre of Excellence is an interdisciplinary program dedicated to providing the best care to individuals living with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
Within our telemedicine program, we have five gastroenterologists with expertise in managing IBD.
Our team also have a colorectal surgeon Dr. Mantaj Brar who specializes in the surgical treatment of IBD.
Additional members of our IBD telemedicine team include: a dietician, a telemedicine nurse and a research coordinator.
How to be referred to the telemedicine program
The PACE IBD telemedicine program accepts referrals from physicians and nurse practitioners for the following reasons:
- to assist with the diagnosis of IBD,
- to assume ongoing IBD management, or
- for a second opinion regarding treatment and care of IBD
Along with the completed referral form, the referring health care provider should include:
- recent medical imaging results
- endoscopy and surgical reports
- relevant lab work
The referral form and supporting documents should be faxed to the IBD Telemedicine: 416-586-5971 or emailed to PaceIBD.MSH@SinaiHealth.ca
Is Telemedicine Right for Me?
Telemedicine is useful for many appointments, but we may not be able to use it for all your visits. Talk to your health care provider to find out which appointments can use telemedicine.
