New System Links Doctors To Patients From Anywhere

APPLE VALLEY - Lisa and Justin Rich are a very happy couple, while they're waiting for their baby boy to enter the world.

"I am ready now," Lisa said anxiously.

But little Toby is taking his time.

"I'm very excited, I can't wait to meet him," Lisa said.

"It's kind of nerve racking," Justin added.

At St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Dr. William Rivera checks in on Lisa as often as he can. But he can't always be in the room or even at the hospital.

So what if the doctor could see the fetal heart rate and the frequency and intensity of contractions without ever having to be in the room? Well now he can with a phone and some new technology.

It is called AirStrip OB and it's giving the doctor a live feed of what is happening with his patient from wherever he happens to be. What is seen at the hospital, he sees.

"Home, I could be at the office, I could be in a different dependency of a hospital doing surgery or something else, but I'm able to review remotely what is happening," Rivera explained.

Twenty four-seven the doctor is linked in to what is going on with his patien.

"The baby's heart rate, contractions is in the lower tracing here, so at this moment she is having very mild contractions," Rivera said referring to the program on his mobile phone.

The doctor can even look at the nurses notes and evaluate the situation all by logging on to the secure system.

"I'm observing room five's tracing," Rivera said.

He doesn't have to wait for a nurse's call or page to make a decision.

"It is great because it forewarns us if something impending is about to occur," Rivera said.

It gives the Richs some extra peace of mind, as they wait, as patiently as they can for their son to make his first appearance.

"If something comes up and he needs to get here, he can get here without having to go through the paging process," Justin said.

"It does actually make me feel good, because you worry, you know, 'is anyone updating him, can they get a hold of him.' And if he's tracking my progress, I feel a lot better that when I need him to be here, he'll be here," Lisa said from here hospital bed.

And he was! Progressed tracked, baby on the way, Dr. Rivera was there with plenty of time to deliver a healthy baby boy -- Toby Alan Rich at seven pounds, eight ounces.

Saint Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley is the first hospital in the Southland to use the system, but others are set to start using it soon.