The Covenant Levelland Hospital Emergency Room has continued to implement resources to accommodate local community members through telehealth methods which also includes a newly launched program tailored to helping patients who have been sexually assaulted.
Emergency Department Supervisor Autumn Horne explained that staff began looking into a program in July 2023 called Tex-TRAC or Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center from Texas A&M University.
Tex-TRAC was established with federal grant funding from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to plan, develop and pilot test a statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) telehealth program to serve rural and underserved communities in Texas.
When a nurse at a partnering hospital conducts a sexual assault examination, they have access to a team of forensic nurses on call 24 hours a day from a remote location. The expert nurse provides support and guidance throughout the entire exam, creating a team-based approach to trauma-informed, patientcentered care.
The patient and nurse at the hospital are able to see, hear and visit with the expert using specialized videoteleconferencing equipment developed specifically for the health care setting to ensure privacy, confidentiality and expert care delivery.
It was not until the risk management team notified Horne and staff that the Texas State Law was adjusted to allow a patient who had been sexually assaulted to refuse transfer to another facility and still request a sexual assault examination.
Horne explained that neither herself nor her nurses are SANE certified. The SANE certification is not a necessity in the field.
As a result, more nurses are choosing not to seek that certification as it requires a laborintensive two-year certification process and also requires the nurse to be present during trial of that particular case of the individual who was sexually assaulted as the examiner essentially acquires samples that can be used in evidence.
Horne also shared that larger facilities such as those in Lubbock are also having a difficult time having SANE nurses on staff.
With that being case, the old process consisted of Horne transferring individuals who were sexually assaulted to a facility that has a certified examiner. However, if the sexually assaulted patient refused transfer, that individual had the option to still request the examination to be carried out in the current facility.
In turn, Horne and staff spent considerable time seeking a remedy to accommodate an individual if the need arises. That research led to the Tex-TRAC program.
The program consists of exams being conducted through telehealth. The emergency room is equipped with a cart that has a monitor and camera attached to it. If the individual objects to being transferred, that is when Horne will utilize the cart and call the telehealth nurse that is SANE certified.
From there the nurse will walk Horne through the entire examination and ensure evidence is collected that can be used in court.
Cart training began this month and the program was launched on Wednesday ahead of schedule.
“It has been a long process, but it is a resource that is grant funded and it does not cost us anything here at the facility,” explained Horne. “Texas A&M is state funded along with private funding as well and they are trying to get this service available to rural communities.”
The main reason for the lengthy process of establishing the program has been ensuring the equipment used for this program will not cause issue with Providence technology.
Horne explained that the cart will be utilizing the network of a large organization that is Providence. That requires approval from several key areas within the IT realm.
As the University Medical Center Health System experienced a cyberattack in October, the goal of the network and equipment checks has been to avoid something similar happening.
Looking at telehealth as an advantageous resource, Horne explained having them expedites the process is diagnosis.
“This is just one more resource that allows us to diagnose you here, but we cannot treat you here,” said Horne.
While that may seem like a small step in the health process of a patient, waiting times have been an issue for many when transferred to a larger facility who have yet to be diagnosed.
“When you have to go to larger hospitals you are going to have wait an extensive amount of time,” said Horne. “Thankfully, our volume is a little lower that we can see patients faster than normal ER’s. However, we do not have all the resources they have.”
Having resources Horne and her nurses can utilize has been a priority for her to ensure the community can continue to be taken care of.
“We like to see our patients and we like to see our community members come to our ER for their care,” said Horne. “My staff and I want to put our patients in the best situation possible and uphold our patients’ rights.”
In 2023, the ER implemented stroke telemedicine to quickly treat patients with stroke symptoms. When a patient comes in for stroke symptoms, staff can connect with a neurologist.
From there they can begin quickly treating the patient with stroke symptoms before the individual is transferred to a stroke center with the use of the telestroke machine.