“SOMETIMES PATIENTS ARE EASILY TRAVELING AN HOUR ROUND-TRIP JUST TO COME AND SEE US. SO, EVEN OUR OLDER POPULATION HAS BEEN PRETTY QUICK TO MOVE TOWARD THE TELEHEALTH OPTION. THEY JUST FEEL SAFER THAT WAY.”


Telehealth SYSTEM-WIDE W


hen COVID-19 came to West Plains, Ozarks Healthcare faced the same chal- lenge many hospitals faced: Patients


staying home for fear of infection, skipping prima- ry and follow-up visits. Telehealth proved the answer and it’s remained a well-used tool ever since, said Brittany McGee, nurse practitioner. “Prior to the pandemic, we really didn’t offer tele- health to our patients,” she said. “The population at the clinic I work with, internal medicine and pri- mary care, is very high-risk with a lot of elderly and very complex patients. So, it was a pretty easy deci- sion to move pretty quickly to the telehealth model.”


28 | OZARKS HEALTHCARE | WINTER 2021


The system provides both video conferencing and telephone options for patients to connect to a health care professional. Many visits are also done through the hospital’s COVID-19 hotline. McGee said the nature of the patient's case and their degree of technical ability dictates which medium is used. “It’s been a great option because we cover such


a huge area as a rural health care system,” McGee said. “Sometimes patients are easily traveling an hour round-trip just to come and see us. So, even our older population has been pretty quick to move toward the telehealth option. They just feel safer that way.”


Above: Brittany McGee, FNP, family nurse


practitioner, uses telehealth to meet with patients through video conferencing or over the telephone. Photography by James Moore.


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