The Department of Surgery has established the Telemedicine Task Force to provide faculty and trainees with best practices for the expansion of TeleHealth. Department Chair, Dr. Nita Ahuja has appointed Dr. Ronald Salem Chair of the committee. Members include Faculty and Division Administrators. Nikki Delucia, a director on the joint YNHHS/YM Telehealth Team, will provide important technical support for the Task Force, as well as serve as a liaison to the YNHHS/YM resources.
“It is important that people can readily share their individual issues and get feedback, and also for that knowledge to be shared, so we can learn from one another, as we expand and enhance the ways in which we use telemedicine,” said Dr. Salem.
An initial charge of the Task Force is to develop a mechanism for bi-directional communication with physicians.
" ... we can pool our collective experience to really drive the success of the new Telemedical arm of our surgical practices."
Department of Surgery Chair, Dr. Nita Ahuja
Although telemedicine is not new to Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health, use of the institution’s Telehealth capabilities has become mission-critical in the past few months, as the COVID-19 continues to pose limitations on resources and the ability to treat patients in-person.
“Telemedicine isn’t going anywhere. We are all learning, and a Task Force is one way we can pool our collective experience to really drive the success of the new Telemedical arm of our surgical practices” said Dr. Ahuja.
The task force was established at the recommendation of Department leadership at a recent leadership conference call, which serves to funnel up frontlines needs in real time.