In 1991, the five district hospitals of the five northern counties of Idaho came together to form the The North Idaho Rural Health Consortium (NIRHC). These five community hospitals have the common goal to provide a regional integrated approach to the delivery of rural health care. This includes access and referral to specialty care, surgical and mental health follow ups and closer relationship with Kootenai Cancer Center physicians and staff.

Since the beginning in 1996, the NIRHC TeleHealth Network has provided educational and administrative meeting time to share resources and experience. In the recent past, clinical services have also become to rely on the real-time connectivity of the network.

Ongoing programs ands clinical applications include:

• Weekly Continuing Medical Education for physicians (Category 1 Credit) provides topical information to physicians, staff and interested health care providers across five counties, fostering communication and a sense of community.
• Kootenai Cancer Center has three locations. KCC staff can all participate in weekly Tumor Boards, staff meetings and other patient-critical conversations.
• TelePsychiatry provides clinical access from psychiatrists to rural patients.
• TelePharmacy allows 24/7 coverage of rural hospitals from a staffed pharmacy.
• An education program for emergency department nurses.
• TelePathology allows instant remote diagnosis of tissue samples to rural surgeons.
• The network provides access to monthly EMS Live@Nite, hosted by Northwest Telehealth.
• Physicians and medical technicians attending case reviews, including ultrasound, cardiology and echocardiogram.

 “We’ve approached northern Idaho’s telehealth issues by first identifying essential rural community needs, followed by verifying the availability of providers. Only then does it make sense to introduce the technology to satisfy that need.”

For additional information,
please contact Tom Hauer at thauer@kmc.org or (208) 666-2987