UC Davis Well being is trying to the way forward for well being care and increasing entry to telehealth visits to achieve extra sufferers in additional locations.
In accordance with a new research by Epic Analysis and the Kaiser Household Basis, early within the pandemic 13% of outpatient visits have been carried out through telehealth. During the last six months, the share of telehealth visits has decreased to eight% however stays elevated over pre-pandemic ranges.
“Early within the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was a means sufferers may join with their well being care staff and get routine care with out coming to a hospital or clinic,” mentioned Michael Condrin, chief working officer for ambulatory care. “Two years into the pandemic, telehealth has confirmed to be a secure and efficient means for a lot of populations, together with susceptible communities, to entry care.”
This yr, UC Davis Well being estimates 19% of its affected person visits shall be completed through telehealth.
“With this elevated entry to care, and the nice high quality outcomes we’re seeing for sufferers, we’re working to increase our telehealth choices and convey extra providers to sufferers, making it much more handy and simpler to entry wanted providers,” Condrin added.
Impression of the COVID-19 pandemic on telehealth
Early within the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine skilled fast progress as sufferers and suppliers regarded for methods to soundly entry and ship well being care.
In early March 2020, UC Davis Well being went from having simply 23 telehealth visits per day to greater than 1,000 video visits between suppliers and sufferers day by day. All through the month, the Medical Heart averaged almost 1,100 telehealth visits a day.
“At first we have been simply attempting to get individuals to strive it,” mentioned Mark Avdalovic, professor of medical medication and medical director of ambulatory apply innovation. “Then abruptly everybody was getting in control, and now we’re attempting to optimize what we do nicely and enhance what we will do higher.”
“We would like the expertise for sufferers to be glorious,” he mentioned. “We’re tips on how to enhance the expertise and tips on how to join even higher with our sufferers on a private degree.”
With this elevated entry to care, and the nice high quality outcomes we’re seeing for sufferers, we’re working to increase our telehealth choices and convey extra providers to sufferers, making it much more handy and simpler to entry wanted providers.” —Michael Condrin
Telehealth care at UC Davis
Even earlier than the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Davis Well being was working to increase digital well being choices.
Telehealth at UC Davis started as a tele fetal monitoring reference to Colusa Group Hospital in 1992 and advanced to turn out to be the Heart for Well being and Know-how in 2000. The telehealth program was established to cut back well being disparities by bringing medical care and academic assets on to communities in want of specialised providers.
“We have led plenty of monumental initiatives centered on bettering telehealth expertise, tools entry, broadband networks and schooling for medical college students desirous about caring for rural communities,” mentioned James Marcin, director of the Heart for Well being and Know-how.
UC Davis Well being’s current telehealth initiatives embrace:
- Categorical Care Platform: Permits sufferers to attach with a UC Davis Well being doctor for same-day and extended-hours video visits utilizing a smartphone, pill or private laptop. Sufferers can focus on pressing care points similar to flu-like signs, cough, urinary tract points, GI issues, joint ache, and extra. The service is the most important direct-to-consumer tutorial telemedicine service in California.
- UC Davis Pediatric Telemedicine Program: One of many first applications of its type within the nation to supply physicians and sufferers with real-time distant session and analysis although interactive, high-definition video and audio communication. This enhanced video expertise permits UC Davis to supply 24/7 experience to distant well being care suppliers, with out the necessity to switch a affected person to UC Davis Youngsters’s Hospital.
- ACTIVATE: Goals to achieve populations who’re susceptible to the worst outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic with the expertise, expertise, and connections they should entry and make the most of well being care providers.
- Supplier-to-Supplier Telehealth: Connects physicians and their sufferers with UC Davis Well being specialists. Since its inception, this system has offered real-time session providers in almost 50 specialties. Greater than 200 clinics and hospitals, sometimes situated in rural areas, have benefitted from the revolutionary program.
- Digital Well being Fairness Program: Helps the creation of a regional digital public well being platform to enhance entry to and continuity of look after susceptible populations within the Sacramento space and the northern California area. This undertaking expands UC Davis Well being’s skill to associate and coordinate with federally certified well being facilities to convey extra providers to susceptible sufferers and group members and make entry to well being care simpler. This system additionally works with group organizations to affix this digital platform, to additional enhance care coordination and entry to non-health providers.
“We’re extremely happy with these applications, which have established UC Davis Well being because the statewide chief in telemedicine and digital well being,” Condrin mentioned. “They’ve had a profound influence on affected person care in our group and proceed to construct on the medical middle’s lengthy historical past of reaching out to essentially the most susceptible, underserved populations within the area.”
