Accra Helps Clients Connect with Doctors from Home
This service is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
By KC Ferk, Home Health Program Director
The pandemic has made it more challenging than usual for many older adults and people with disabilities to get routine medical care. With many people staying home to avoid exposure to COVID-19, Accra is helping clients get the care they need from the comfort of their home.
Recently, an Accra Homecare Nurse helped facilitate a telehealth visit with a new doctor, demonstrating how virtual visits can improve care management.
The nurse's client typically had difficulty communicating his health issues to his previous physician, and his prescriptions and follow-up care were often lost or forgotten, forcing the nurse to spend valuable time tracking down orders and medicines. And since the client relied on metro mobility, the burden of finding transportation had often prevented him from going to onsite clinic visits, even before the pandemic.
The Accra nurse helped her client establish a virtual visit with a doctor from a Twin Cities health center. She brought a computer to the client's home, preloaded with forms and client information, and facilitated a video call directly with the new doctor.
Since Accra's homecare nurse knows her client and his medical history, she could help him make the most of the visit with his physician. At the beginning of the visit, the nurse was able to share information about medications and prior health issues that the client could not readily relay. She also helped the client recall critical medical problems and ask pertinent questions while taking notes to address questions the client had about the doctor's directions after the call.
At the end of the telehealth visit, the doctor prescribed new medication and a follow-up plan. The homecare nurse helped her client keep track of the needed medication and will assist him with following the doctor's new orders.
As Accra continues to develop partnerships with local physicians and clinics, it plans to expand homecare services so that Accra nurses or certified phlebotomists can take vital measurements for the physician and draw blood for follow up labs, effectively bringing the clinic and care into Accra's clients' homes.