Billings Clinic is Montana’s largest independent health care system serving Montana, Wyoming and the western Dakotas. A not-for-profit organization led by a physician CEO, Billings Clinic is governed by a board of community members, nurses and physicians. Billings Clinic is an integrated multi-specialty group practice with a 336-bed hospital and Level I Trauma Center. Billings Clinic has more than 4,500 employees, including nearly 600 physicians and non-physician providers and advanced practitioners offering more than 80 specialties.
CHALLENGE
Billings Clinic, like many healthcare systems, faced a common problem. With the absence of specialists for small rural hospitals, patients lacked specialized care for oncology, cardiology, and nephrology. Due to the long travel time for patients to reach the main hospital for follow-up appointments, they’d travel to Billings Clinic’s partner hospital site to connect to their doctors.
To ensure patients can attend their follow-up appointments, Billings Clinic realized they needed a new cost-effective telecart that would provide expert-level of care from the specialized doctors for all partner hospital sites. The rollout of a telecart as part of the specialized program hinged on the affordability and usability of the solution.
SOLUTION
Billings Clinic partnered with AVI Systems to implement a telecart solution that solved their need for telehealth patient calls that can be expanded to their partner hospital sites. To best utilize their video conferencing platform, Pexip, they reached out to Avteq to use the TMP-200 telemedicine cart as their cost-effective solution.
With its small footprint and well-designed features, the TMP-200 was the ideal choice for Billings Clinic. The solution includes the Poly Studio R30 accessing Pexip wirelessly. The backup battery provides the needed power for hours-long video calls, doctor patient exams and consultations. In addition, the TMP-200 also provides a sustainable and reliable backbone for future growth and use cases.
RESULTS
The rollout included telecarts installed at partner hospital sites within the Billings Clinic healthcare network. The specialized program allows Billings Clinic to provide critical diagnosis treatment and follow-up consultations for oncology, cardiology, and nephrology.
These carts helped Billings Clinic continue its rapid advancement of specialized care for rural areas and ensured patients will be able to travel conveniently to their appointments. Since the initial rollout, Billings Clinic has been able to assist 12,000 patients with their new telecart solution.
Click here to find out more
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
