There is an intricate daily dance behind the scenes within the South Carolina House Calls (SCHC) Center for Telehealth. The Center comprises multiple disciplines, working together to provide in-home and telehealth patient care to South Carolina residents. Patient Advocates, Intake Navigators, Schedulers, Registered Nurses, Social Workers, Pharmacists, and Medical Assistants form a comprehensive care network responsible for 40,000 + medical visits monthly.
Patient Advocates handle between 1200 and 1400 incoming calls on a typical weekday and have training that utilizes protocols for clinical concerns. Using multiple sources for patient data, the Intake Navigator builds the patient profiles and schedulers utilizing mapping software to design the most efficient routing of appointments for their assigned providers. Appointments are routinely scheduled within a three-day window from the initial call. Medical Assistants working directly with the providers help confirm their scheduled appointments, coordinate lab results, and handle prescription refill requests.
In addition to the daily activities of registering new patients and scheduling appointments, the Center provides management and oversight of the Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program. Over three hundred patients in South Carolina currently use the SCHC RPM service. RPM coordinators daily monitor patient vitals and report changes to the responsible provider. The early detection of problems allows providers to address issues in a timelier manner, thereby reducing the chance of a more complex situation and possible hospitalization.
The Center for telehealth is a 365 days per year operation. David Teachey, VP of Acute Care Services, who oversees the entity, stated, “The Center for Telehealth is at the core of our SCHC operation and an invaluable information resource for both patients and providers.”
