Hospital-focused telemedicine company Specialists On Call is getting into managed services.
Monday at the American Telemedicine Association‘s annual conference, the Reston, Virginia-based vendor introduced what it called a “turnkey operational platform for hospitals, clinics and health systems seeking to build a telemedicine program using their own physicians.” This, according to Specialists On Call, lets healthcare organizations scale up telemedicine operations without a major upfront hardware and software investment.
Services available include automation of patient intake, call center management, video capabilities, integration of clinical documentation with electronic health records, physician scheduling and analytics. Health systems can choose to have only their own physicians available for remote consultations or they can combine their network with those in Specialists On Call’s network, the company said.
The launch customer for this managed services platform is Huntsville Hospital Health System’s nine-hospital North Alabama Neuro-Stroke Network, serving a region that even the health system calls the Stroke Belt. With the help of Specialists On Call technology, neurologists in Huntsville, Alabama, are able to examine stroke patients remotely before ordering costly transfers to the flagship hospital, potentially saving time, money and lives.
“Historically, most patients have immediately been transferred from these smaller outlying facilities to Huntsville Hospital,” Dr. Amit Arora, medical director of the North Alabama Neuro-Stroke Network said in a statement provided by Specialists On Call.
“By utilizing this innovative telemedicine approach, our neurologists can make a more informed decision on potential t-PA therapy as well as whether to transfer the patient to Huntsville Hospital or let them stay in their community hospital and receive care closer to home,” Arora added.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Photo: Specialists On Call
