Virtual Health Services

SmartExam is a fast, convenient, low-cost way to get treatment online for minor medical conditions. South Carolinians can use a smart phone, tablet or computer to complete an online interview about their symptoms, which are reviewed by a licensed provider. Responses are provided within one hour between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., including holidays. The cost for a diagnosis and treatment plan is $20.

To learn more, visit PalmettoHealth.org/SmartExam

Patient Testimonials:

• "A must try! I was much more comfortable receiving care from home than a clinic. It was very quick and accurate getting to the root of my problem."
• "I'm so grateful Palmetto Health has this service! As a working mother of three boys, it's hard to find medical care that fits my busy schedule. I will use this multiple times a year for seasonal conditions!"

Palmetto Health physicians are using virtual care to provide critical health care services to skilled nursing facility residents, which improves care management and reduces costly transfers to the emergency department.

Changes in patients' conditions often occur after hours when physicians are not physically onsite. By using virtual health technology, offsite physicians can immediately assess patients using high definition audio and visual equipment.

Benefits:

• Patients receive high-quality care faster: Physician response time is less than 15 minutes, 24/7
• Reduce unnecessary transports to the emergency department
• Improve patient and family experience

Stroke is South Carolina's third leading cause of death. Every second matters when seeking medical treatment for stroke. However, many community medical centers don't have access to stroke experts when they are needed most. Our virtual stroke program was created in 2008 to address these concerns and bring 24/7 stroke care to all South Carolinians, regardless of where they live.

This life-saving network connects partnering hospitals with immediate access to Palmetto Health's neurological experts for urgent stroke consultations through high-definition audio and visual medical technologies. Our neurologists examine patients virtually at the bedside and initiate treatment when necessary. Quicker access to stroke care leads to better patient outcomes and fewer deaths.

Palmetto Health offers telehealth opportunities in several schools in Richland and Sumter counties. Students with health needs may now be instantly connected to a Palmetto Health nurse practitioner for non-emergency needs and have prescriptions sent to the pharmacy of choice following the visit.

Benefits:

• Helping students feel better, quicker
• Reducing missed time from school
• Reducing parents' missed work days
• Eliminating transportation barriers

This service does not replace existing primary care. The parent or guardian will be contacted before any telehealth visit occurs with participating students. All participating students require parent/guardian consent forms on file.

Palmetto Health’s educational component for school-based telehealth provides students with relevant and interactive content to support improved behaviors and overall knowledge of nutrition and physical activity. The “Eat Well, Keep Moving” curriculum focuses on obesity prevention and reduction and is provided for 16 weeks in after-school programming. The educational component of telehealth is fully operational in several Richland and Sumter county schools.

An integral component of virtual health is distance education, which refers to situations in which the instructor and learner are geographically separated and rely on electronic devices for instructional delivery. Distance education equips providers with medical knowledge on a range of topics relevant to them so it can be shared and translated into everyday practice.

Programs:

Hepatitis C:
Through the Hepatitis C virtual education program, primary care providers, pharmacists and other health care professionals across the Southeast have an opportunity to collaborate with infectious disease specialists to learn how to better identify, diagnosis and treat patients with Hepatitis C. During weekly webinars, primary care providers present their own Hepatitis C cases to a multidisciplinary panel where, collectively, the group applies evidence-based medicine guidelines and other best practice principles to formulate the best care plans. With infectious disease specialists just a click away, providers can obtain medical knowledge that can be translated into everyday practice regardless of where they are located.

For more information on our Hepatitis C webinars, visit http://titan.med.sc.edu/

https://www.scetv.org/stories/telehealth/2016/distance-education-helps-providers-treat-patients-hepatitis-c

Coming soon:

• Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Opiond Use Disorders

Through the use of sophisticated technology, critical care providers are able to monitor and extend clinical decision-making support to distant intensive care units (ICUs) across South Carolina. Virtual critical care providers use advanced algorithm software that identifies foreseeable changes in a patient's medical status so they can alert bedside teams for proactive intervention. These specialty providers also extend clinical decision-making support to bedside teams through real-time audiovisual communication.

These virtual specialists complement, support and strengthen existing bedside presence where that expertise may be hard to reach, especially in rural areas. Over the last three years, participating hospital, Palmetto Health Tuomey, has improved patient safety, quality, care standardization, and health outcomes by having this second pair of eyes on their ICU patients.

Other outcomes:

• Reduction in mortality, length of stay, ventilator days
• Increase in patient throughput
• Improved partient and family experience

Partners:

Palmetto Health's pediatric critical care providers are extending their expertise to community hospitals through the use of advanced audiovisual technology.

Smaller hospitals oftentimes cannot support full-time staff who specialize in all the pediatric critical care conditions that they encounter. This regularly leads to automatic transfers of pediatric patients to other hospitals, resulting in delayed care, unnecessary costs, and travel burdens on the patient's family.

With virtual pediatric critical care consultations, community hospitals can utilize Palmetto Health's diverse group of pediatric specialists and feel confident in keeping their patients close to home. When transfers are necessary, our pediatric transport unit is also equipped with this virtual care technology enabling access to specialists anywhere, even during transit.

Program Benefits:

• Improves time to diagnosis and treatment
• Improves accuracy in determing patient transfers
• Improves confidence of community hospital teams
• Reduces costs for famility in rural communities
• Increases patient and family experience

The Palmetto Health-USC Medical Group Orthopedic Center offers comprehensive wellness programs that empower patients to live healthier lives. As part of the MedFit12 lifestyle program, patients are able to access nutritional sessions with their dietitian virtually through a mobile application.

It can be difficult to balance a busy schedule with healthy lifestyle interventions. By extending these nutritional services virtually, participants access their dietitian more conveniently, leading to better program adherence, outcomes and patient experience.

To learn more, visit https://phuscmg.org/specialties/orthopedics/wellness