New Hospitalist Group Brings Telehealth Capabilities to OhioHealth Morrow County Hospital
It's one of the last places someone wants to end up, but nearly everyone lands in the hospital at some point, needing doctors and nurses to make them feel better.
At OhioHealth Morrow County Hospital, you can expect to be seen by a host of medical professionals, sometimes even two doctors, but one of the faces you'll see appears on a screen.
It's part of a new partnership with MedOne Healthcare Partners, a hospitalist group that provides 24-7 physician support through telehealth capabilities.
How it works:
When a patient arrives at the hospital, they'll be seen by a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant employed by MedOne, as well as OhioHealth Emergency Department staff.
Then, that advanced practice provider will call up a MedOne physician on a laptop who can evaluate the patient remotely.
“We’re not taking away services by doing this," said Joey Saliba MD, Medical Director of the MedOne Hospitalist Program at Morrow County Hospital. "When we set up a telehealth call or telehealth visit, I’m talking directly to the ER physician, and that collaboration has been excellent. So, there’s the boots on the ground, there’s the telehealth physician remotely, and there’s the collaboration with the ER.”
The switch to MedOne started back in December, and according to Dr. Saliba, it's brought several benefits to patients.
Experienced Providers
One of the biggest benefits has been the experience these physicians and advanced practice providers have coming from larger hospitals.
“We bring that experience of having worked in that quaternary or tertiary care center, including OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, so that we’ve also been on the receiving end of a critical access hospital like Morrow County,” said Dr. Saliba. “A number of our advanced care providers have ICU experience as well.”
That experience helps keep more people at Morrow County Hospital, so patients don't have to leave their community for care at a larger hospital.
“Having a group that’s very experienced and well connected and is also based at a tertiary care hospital really connects us in a better way,” said Grant Galbraith MD, associate director of medical affairs at Morrow County Hospital. "So, patients that may have been transferred because of need for testing, which would have been the perception of the person admitting the patient, those people may be able to stay and receive telehealth services directed by experts who are in the tertiary care centers.”
24-7 Physician Support
Another change that comes with the partnership with MedOne is 24-7 physician support.
That support is a key resource as health providers decide the next steps in a patient's care.
“It’s as simple as, if a patient has a concern or a nurse has a concern, you page the physician on call, and if they need to, they can hop on the screen and actually evaluate the patient and talk with them," said Alex Kaple DO, medical director of the Emergency Department at Morrow County Hospital.
Introducing telehealth into the Morrow County community is certainly a big adjustment, but it's clear the teams at Morrow County Hospital and MedOne are confident patient care is in the best hands.
