{"id":33234,"date":"2020-05-14T13:20:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T17:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=33234"},"modified":"2020-05-14T13:20:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T17:20:24","slug":"hudson-headwaters-finds-telehealth-network-a-big-help-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/05\/hudson-headwaters-finds-telehealth-network-a-big-help-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Hudson Headwaters Finds Telehealth Network A Big Help During Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

If anything good comes from the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth will fall into that category, Hudson Headwaters Health Network Chief Medical Informatics Officer Dr. Kevin Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is an exciting time in health care and a really great opportunity for us to redesign our care delivery,\u201d he said in an interview about the organization\u2019s telehealth program, which expanded rapidly to accommodate COVID-19 concerns and social distancing guidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re just at the tip of the iceberg with how we can get creative with this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hudson Headwaters Community Relations Manager Jane Hooper said the network was planning to introduce telehealth this year over a number of months, but the pandemic dramatically upped that timeline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gallagher joined Hudson Headwaters March 2, and just days later telehealth became the main focus of his work as the organization had to start addressing how to minimize COVID-19 exposure for patients and providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

He and other network leaders started meeting in the main conference room and mapping out how to deploy virtual visits. They discussed information as it came, including regulation changes that made different platforms more accessible and certain services billable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Officials said the group created and tested out the virtual appointment process, and made sure they understood the documentation requirements and that staff knew how to support the program. For example, front office staff needed to learn how to talk patients through the process of downloading apps for the telehealth appointments in case they were not familiar with those programs, and nurses and providers had to know how to interact with patients via telehealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within a matter of weeks, the program was up and running across all of the network\u2019s 19 community health centers, with behavioral health providers, social workers, primary care doctors, pediatricians and obstetrician\/gynecologists doing virtual visits, Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hudson Headwaters providers currently conduct telehealth appointments to monitor patients with well-controlled high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma, and to do adult medication checks and follow-up visits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou really can do a lot of chronic disease management, medication adjustments and some acute issues can be handled as well,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hooper said patients who have video appointments are sent emails with links to Zoom meetings. At the appointed time, they log in and a nurse or medical assistant checks them in before the physician comes in for the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super convenient; nobody needs to leave their homes,\u201d Hooper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Hooper and Gallagher emphasized that people should access care if they need it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest things we don\u2019t want to have happen is for people to delay care because they\u2019re afraid to leave the house or that they\u2019re going to get sick if they do, and then have something catastrophic happen with their chronic disease,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telehealth visits present an alternative to in-person visits, Hooper said, adding that the organization is taking precautions at its health centers, including the use of masks and the institution of barriers that block staff off from patients.<\/span><\/p>\n

Certain components of an examination, like taking vital signs, are limited by video visits, Gallagher said. But skin or musculoskeletal issues are still diagnoseable via video.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see where they\u2019re having a problem, you can guide them on some certain diagnostic maneuvers,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hudson Headwaters emphasized that providers should use good clinical judgment as the outcome of a video appointment might still be an in-person visit, what they now refer to as \u201cbrick and mortar\u201d medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a ton of value in doing a video visit if it leads to an in-person visit or if you direct someone to an urgent care center because they need a different level of evaluation,\u201d Gallagher said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said patients have responded positively to the program and specifically mentioned essential workers who have been able to do their appointments during a break at work rather than losing half a day to see their providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patients at all the Hudson Headwaters health centers are now able to self-schedule video appointments through the organization\u2019s website. Staff monitors the \u201creason for visit\u201d field to make sure that a video visit is appropriate for patients\u2019 needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the website includes guidance on what conditions would be appropriate for a telehealth visit versus an office visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond COVID-19, telehealth could present opportunities to connect younger people to primary care through the technology they constantly use and help overcome barriers to care, such as transportation access or poor weather, Hooper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She added that college students who are away from home and snowbirds could make use of virtual visits to go over medications or check their blood pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think this has opened up a new way of delivering health care that I think is going to change the way we do it forever,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If anything good comes from the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth will fall into that category, Hudson Headwaters Health Network Chief Medical Informatics Officer Dr. Kevin Gallagher said. \u201cI think this is an exciting time in health care and a really great opportunity for us to redesign our care delivery,\u201d he said in an interview about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nHudson Headwaters Finds Telehealth Network A Big Help During Pandemic - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2020\/05\/hudson-headwaters-finds-telehealth-network-a-big-help-during-pandemic\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hudson Headwaters Finds Telehealth Network A Big Help During Pandemic - 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