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UAMS e-Link Clinical Project Manager, Alyssa Robinson (center), trains clinical staff at Woman’s Hospital on using their telemedicine cart.
Image by Kelley Cooper
UAMS Digital Health Expertise Helps Expand High-Risk Obstetric Care in Louisiana
| When Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, needed a digital solution to improve maternal-fetal medicine care in their clinics, they turned to their neighbors in Arkansas for help. Now, thanks to a partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, things are running more smoothly than ever.
(From left to right) John Fitzgerald, networking manager; Rhett Roy, IT infrastructure director; Don Meyn, M.D., chief medical officer; Robert C. Moore, M.D.; Jennifer Levy, physician practice management director; Pamela Simmons, O.D.; Kimberly Stewart, M.D.; and Janet Broussard, senior project manager, all of Woman’s Hospital, first visited UAMS in October 2023 to receive guidance on operating a maternal-fetal telemedicine program.Kelley Cooper
The program’s success is supported by a close partnership with the UAMS e-Link team, who provided hands-on guidance throughout planning and implementation. Their expertise helped establish best practices, support multiple deployments, and ensure clinical quality and efficient workflows as access to maternal-fetal medicine care expanded across Louisiana.
“The partnership between UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, e-Link, Woman’s Hospital, and its partners is a powerful example of how health care organizations can come together for a shared purpose to improve the lives of patients and their families,” said Roy Kitchen, executive director for UAMS e-Link. “I’m incredibly proud of the outstanding work the teams at UAMS have accomplished. Thanks to their dedication, Woman’s Hospital now has a thriving maternal-fetal digital health program, and I’m grateful that we had the opportunity to help make that possible.”
Woman’s Hospital is a private, nonprofit specialty hospital for women and infants located in Baton Rouge. Since 1968, it has welcomed more than 400,000 babies, making it the largest delivery service in Louisiana. It operates a Level III neonatal intensive care unit and has expertise in mammography, as well as breast and gynecologic cancer care.
Janet Broussard, a senior project manager with Woman’s Hospital, said the team was looking to streamline its patient care technology for its maternal-fetal medicine clinic. The program operates at three Louisiana locations — Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, CHRISTUS Ochsner Lake Area Hospital in Lake Charles, and St. Francis FMOL in Monroe — allowing patients to receive expert consultations without long-distance travel. Pamela Simmons, O.D., a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Woman’s Hospital who completed her fellowship at UAMS and was familiar with e-Link, suggested they reach out.
After making contact, a team of maternal-fetal medicine providers, neonatologists and IT experts from Woman’s Hospital, including Broussard and Jennifer Levy, director of physician practice management, first visited the UAMS e-Link team in October 2023. They were looking for tech solutions to enable real-time viewing of ultrasound imaging during virtual visits. Through early planning discussions and site visits, the team learned digital health best practices and established a foundation for delivering high-quality virtual maternal-fetal medicine care.
UAMS e-Link Senior Telemedicine Specialist Aaron Ward collaborates with Woman’s Hospital Network Engineer John Fitzgerald to set up telemedicine equipment.Kelley Cooper
The Institute for Digital Health & Innovation has long provided similar services to local, out-of-state and international partners, ranging from technical and economic expertise to strategic and administrative advising, said Teague Johnson, the institute’s divisional director of technology. However, the partnership with Woman’s Hospital required a more creative solution.
“Historically, we’ve leased equipment of UAMS owned-and-operated technologies that we then provided as a service,” Johnson said. “Woman’s Hospital was unique for us because we allowed them to purchase and own all the goods, while we provided the know-how.”
In this case, that included serving as an intermediary to allow Woman’s Hospital to order from UAMS’s vendor, then having the goods shipped to Arkansas to build. Then the e-Link team brought the completed digital health kits to Louisiana and rolled out the program to each location.
“We set them on a course for expansion,” said Kelley Cooper, senior program manager with UAMS e-Link. “We suggested the tech and put them in touch with UAMS’ own supplier. The e-Link team built the carts and delivered them, and Woman’s Hospital paid for the consultation and yearly support. It’s a new way of doing business, and we hope to continue with that.”
“It was very hands-on, and we enjoyed every bit,” Johnson said.
Clinic visits are more streamlined now. Physicians view ultrasound images in real time during visits, supporting accurate assessments and timely interventions. Patients are seen at local clinics with trained staff on-site, and no special technology is required.
The improvements have been well received by patients and providers alike.
“Feedback from both patients and providers has been overwhelmingly positive,” Levy said. “Patients appreciate receiving specialized care close to home and value real-time ultrasound assessments. Providers note that telemedicine allows them to deliver high-quality care efficiently while maintaining continuity of care.”
UAMS e-Link Clinical Project Manager Alyssa Robinson (right) works with maternal-fetal medicine clinical staff and a test patient at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital prior to launching their telemedicine program.Kelley Cooper
“By implementing the UAMS e-Link solution, we significantly improved access to specialty care, reduced delays in clinical decision-making, and increased provider confidence,” Broussard said. “This approach allows high-quality care to be delivered more timely and efficiently, regardless of where the patients reside.”
With the service now up and running, UAMS continues to provide support but has given the Louisiana provider the tools to eventually take over the process themselves, if need be, Johnson said.
“We worked with their IT teams and tried to make sure they could easily manage with or without us long-term,” Johnson said. “Once they are staffed to take over support, or feel comfortable doing so, they will not have any operational gaps or service interruptions without us.”
Broussard said the program has resulted in better care and happier patients.
“The most rewarding aspect has been providing high-risk obstetric patients with timely, specialized care regardless of location,” Broussard added. “Delivering accurate assessments and timely interventions — without the burden of long travel — has been incredibly fulfilling.”
“This is what we are here for: to grow the application for digital health in the areas of health care where it makes a difference,” Johnson said. “This is one of those areas.”