gphealth.org
Telehealth connects patients with convenient, cost-effective care
“ With telehealth, physicians can also seemore patients per day without having to travel longdistances – they can “meet” face to face even though they aremiles apart.”
Chastity Orr Telehealth coordinator
Reducing disruptions and anxiety for patients
Providers from across Nebraska and other states supplement the services of GPHealth for specialties when GPHealth providers are unavailable. This prevents patients from needing to be transferred to other facilities. GPHealth oncology providers are also leading the way in connecting with other hospitals to provide patient care. Telehealth reduces the need for costly travel and lodging, keeps patients from missing work and helps them avoid medical bills frommultiple facilities and medical transport costs. With telehealth, physicians can also see more patients per day without having to travel long distances – they can “meet” face to face even though they are miles apart. Partnering with other telehealth providers also helps reduce specialist burnout. “Great Plains Health is continually striving tomeet the needs of our community and our surrounding communities,” Orr says. “We will work hard to keep patients’ treatments in their communities to decrease the burden on themand their families.” +
Great Plains Health’s commitment to growing services to meet the region’s needs by enhancing its telehealth capabilities has made a significant difference in making care more accessible and convenient.
GPHealth’s telehealth inpatient services currently include neurology, pulmonology, stroke, infectious disease, nephrology and radiology. Telehealth clinics include pediatric behavioral health, pediatric genetics, pediatric cardiology, complex thyroid, neurology/multiple sclerosis and oncology genetics, chemotherapy and oncology. “We have originating clinics in Grant, Valentine, McCook and Benkelman, with plans to expand,” Orr says. While the health system doesn’t yet have the capability for patients to connect with providers from home, we are looking at ways to add it.
“With telehealth, at one of our complex thyroid clinics, a patient was able to have a “virtual visit,” taking what was once an 8.5-hour trip – round trip to Omaha and the doctor’s visit – and turning it into a 40-minute appointment, including drive time,” says Chastity Orr, telehealth coordinator at Great Plains Health. Telehealth has also increased the number of patients Great Plains Health is able to serve. “When we only had one nephrology provider in 2016, we were able to conduct 83 dialysis treatments,” Orr says. “In 2018, with one on- site provider and our tele-nephrology group, we provided 249 dialysis treatments.”
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