• Press Release

Mount Sinai Health System Announces Telehealth Initiatives

  • (March 11, 2015)

Using secure digital conferencing technology, patients can now manage their health, meet with physicians, and receive advice from Mount Sinai Health System experts – all without setting foot in a doctor’s office.  These initiatives are part of Mount Sinai’s growing Telehealth offerings, which help provide comprehensive, cost-effective care through the use of technology.

“Mount Sinai’s Telehealth Program is connecting providers and patients in novel ways as we fulfill our mission of providing innovative, state-of-the-art, cost-effective care,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System.

“Technology has evolved to a point where it is less of a novelty in our doctors’ offices and more of an essential part of our physicians’ toolkits – and, indeed, an everyday part of our patients’ lives.  The time has come for Telehealth to move to the next level by putting it into wider practice, and we’re proud to have done that here at Mount Sinai, which is at the forefront of the Telehealth revolution,” said Kumar Chatani, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System.  The pilot Telehealth projects are overseen by the Department of Information Technology at Mount Sinai.

Among the first Telehealth pilot projects to get underway, the Primary Care Program will allow physicians in the Mount Sinai Doctors Faculty Practice to offer remote patient consults using a secure, low-cost digital connection. Aida Vega, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director, Primary Care Associates at Mount Sinai is leading this initiative that she says helps link patients and providers using technology they are familiar with.

"Telehealth is yet another access point for our patients who want to discuss their health concerns and new health problems with their own physician via a video consultation,” said Dr. Vega.  “It is also an excellent way to monitor patients with chronic health problems who need more continuous follow up care.”

Telehealth initiatives are enabling providers and patents to connect across many departments in new ways .  For instance, patients can now consult remotely with physicians through the TeleStroke program under the leadership of Aaron Tansy, MD, the Director of the Stroke Program at Mount Sinai Queens (MSQ). The physicians can also directly consult with their colleagues at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan providing a broader scope of expertise to help diagnose and treat patients.  

Another Telehealth program in partnership with a community healthcare center in upstate New York enables patients from rural areas to directly consult with Mount Sinai Health System pediatric epilepsy specialists.  Steven Wolf, MD, Director, Pediatric Epilepsy and Co-Director, Epilepsy Unit, Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Director of Pediatric Neurology, Mount Sinai St. Luke's Roosevelt, in collaboration with Patricia McGoldrick, NP, MPA initially meet with patients in person followed by subsequent Telehealth encounters.  

This technology is also extending to the Emergency Department (ED) where a program has been launched to reduce readmissions and provide better patient outcomes by allowing healthcare professionals to communicate via Telehealth with chronically ill patients in their homes before their symptoms cause them to seek care in the ED.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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