The Telemedicine Exam: An Interactive Session to Improve Your Virtual Exam Skills in 20 Minutes
Telemedicine is becoming a vital part of emergency care, but many emergency physicians remain skeptical about performing effective physical exams remotely. This session will demonstrate the feasibility of thorough virtual exams and provide strategies to enhance accuracy. We will cover key techniques for identifying life-threatening conditions and determining appropriate patient disposition, emphasizing practical approaches. Experts will share evidence-based insights drawn from thousands of telehealth encounters. Participants will also engage in an interactive exercise to practice virtual exams in pairs, adapting to different environments and technologies. By the end of the session, attendees will be equipped with the skills to perform critical virtual exams, ensuring patient safety and informed decision-making during telemedicine encounters.
Learning Objectives:
- Perform a physical exam via telemedicine, focusing on life threats and appropriate disposition of the patient.
- Evaluate and adapt to a patient's environment and technology to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the exam.
- Identify best practices to overcome common challenges associated with conducting physical exams remotely.
Presenters:
- Tony Fabiano, MD
- Emily M. Hayden, MD, MHPE (she/her/hers)
- Neel Naik, MD
- Christina Chien, MD
- Judd E. Hollander, MD
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Tony Fabiano, MD
Jefferson Health
Dr. Tony Fabiano is a current Telehealth Fellow at Thomas Jefferson University / Jefferson Health. He is a distinguished graduate of the University of Cincinnati Emergency Medicine Residency Program. He earned his MD from The Ohio State University College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honors society.
With a strong belief in the transformative potential of telehealth, Dr. Fabiano brings a unique perspective shaped by his background in emergency medicine and passion for patient care. His expertise lies in leveraging the flexibility, adaptability, and cross-specialty knowledge inherent to emergency physicians to lead advancements in the telehealth industry.
Dr. Fabiano has presented on telehealth leadership and education at multiple national conferences and has published research on telehealth clinical appropriateness and quality. He is currently working on two additional publications, and an additional national presentation. His passion lies in enhancing operational efficiencies and driving innovations in patient care through the strategic implementation of telehealth solutions across specialty lines.
Outside of work, Dr. Fabiano enjoys exercising, cooking, international travel, and getting outside with his wife and 13-year-old beagle mix. -
Emily Hayden, MD, MHPE
Massachusetts General Hospital
Emily M. Hayden, MD, MHPE is an attending physician and Director of Telehealth in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Director of the Emergency Medicine Telehealth Research Lab, Division of Health Services Research, Mass General Brigham. She co-founded the Mobile Response Program and Virtual Observation Unit which utilizes telehealth and community paramedicine provide acute, unscheduled care to patients in their homes. Dr. Hayden is the founding Chair of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Telehealth Interest Group, Chair of the SAEM 2020 Consensus Conference on Telehealth in Emergency Medicine, Chair of the Education Subcommittee on the recent American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Telehealth Task Force, and the Chair of both the ACEP Emergency Telehealth Section and the ACEP Health Innovations Technology Committee. She is a member of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Telehealth Advisory Committee that developed the AAMC Telehealth Competencies. She is the Course Director for a self-paced online interprofessional telehealth course, “Telehealth Foundations: Applications Across the Professions”. Dr. Hayden’s research focuses on telehealth in emergency medicine, from the use of telehealth nationally for transfer coordination to the comparison of telehealth to in-person physical examinations. Prior to her work in telehealth, Dr. Hayden spent a decade in healthcare simulation and developed the TeleSimulation program at MGH Learning Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Neel Naik, MD
NYP-Weill Cornell Medicine
"I am currently sssistant professor of emergency medicine, director of EM simulation education. Current Member-At-Large SAEM Simulation Board, Education Small Group Leader SAEM 2020 Telemedicine Consensus Conference. Since I started on the SAEM Simulation Board in the spring of 2020, I have had the responsibility of developing the social media presence of the Simulation Academy. In my time, we have successfully overcome limitations to the account and have actively been tweeting academy updates. Moreover, in order to better serve our members, we have been highlighting publications by our members to increase visibility and continuously promote our members. Through our activity on social media, I have almost doubled the number of followers we have and grown our membership. I have also sought to actively communicate with our membership through regular SAEM Pulse updates to reach those who are not active on social media. As the Vice President of Social Media and Communications, I hope to continue to expand our ability to communicate with our membership, to foster community, announce academy events and promote content created by members of our academy. I hope to continue to grow our social media presence, double our follower base and be a megaphone for our community."
Dr. Neel Naik is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine. He completed his residency and simulation fellowship at New York University/Bellevue Hospital Center, where he developed skills in curriculum design and remediation. Dr. Naik is the Director of Simulation Education at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine, where he is developing and implementing an enterprise-wide telemedicine education platform as part of the Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for Virtual Care. He is involved in telemedicine education nationally and directs telemedicine education for all medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine leading to him being awarded the 2019 SAEM Simulation Innovation Award. In addition to simulation education, Dr. Naik is interested in innovation in instructional design and all areas of medical education. He has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in education, directs a national group studying telemedicine education for the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, and is a nationally known expert in this evolving topic. -
Christina Chien, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Christina Chien is an emergency medicine and critical care attending at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Christina has a focus on increasing access and communication to patients across a variety of settings, including virtual platforms. As Medical Director of the Urgent Care and Virtual Health service line at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Christina's goal is to improve access and quality of care, standardize and ease workflows for clinicians, and enhance patient experiences. -
Judd E. Hollander, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Judd E. Hollander, MD, is Senior Vice President of Healthcare Delivery Innovation at TJU and Associate Dean for Strategic Health Initiatives at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Professor & Vice Chair of Finance and Healthcare Enterprises in the Department of Emergency Medicine, where responsibilities include the JeffConnect Telemedicine Program and Jefferson Urgent Care. He graduated from New York University Medical School in 1986, completed an Internal Medicine Residency at Barnes Hospital in 1989, and an Emergency Medicine Residency at Jacobi Hospital in 1992. His research interests include innovative care delivery models (including telemedicine), risk stratification of patients with potential cardiovascular disease; cocaine associated cardiovascular complications; and laceration and wound management. Dr. Hollander has published over 550 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and editorials on these and other topics. Dr. Hollander was President of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, chaired the SAEM Program Committee and Emergency Medicine Foundation Scientific Review Committee and was Deputy Editor for the Annals of Emergency Medicine, and co-chaired the National Quality Forum (NQF) committee to create a framework to support measure development for telehealth. Dr. Hollander was the awarded the ACEP Award for Outstanding Research in 2001, the Hal Jayne SAEM Academic Excellence Award in 2003 and the SAEM Leadership Award in 2011.