Utah-based TruClinic and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Utah announced a joint agreement which enables HealthSouth to utilize TruClinic’s telemedicine portal for discharge planning and continued communication via a hub and spoke system, connecting patients with their health care providers. The referring doctors now have real time capability to follow up patients’ progress.
HealthSouth looked to telemedicine alternatives in order to reduce inefficient practices in the referral and rehabilitation process of its patients. When opportunities for care advancement were identified, HealthSouth officials became aware of TruClinic and recognized the abundant possibilities of using the platform.
The three primary uses of the technology HealthSouth will employ are:
1. Post-surgical patient care. Post-op and physical updates conducted in-person take up unnecessary time and resources of patients, providers, and HealthSouth personnel. Using the TruClinic platform will eliminate time spent in transit and registration, as well as removing the need for an onsite exam. Patients will continue to complete 180 minutes of therapy every day, uninterrupted by in-person visit constraints.
2. Medical staff consultations. Patients can now be seen virtually for post-op and rehab monitoring during normal business hours as well as after hours. All monitoring device measurements and patient vitals can now be monitored and updated by on‐duty medical personnel onsite, without the patient or the virtual care provider present in the same location.
3. Continued Communication. HealthSouth also plans to use this system to strengthen the communication and monitoring of patients, after discharge, when in a home healthcare setting.
Looking ahead, HealthSouth plans to use TruClinic to account for post discharge expense and throughout its home health programs to interface with the care teams throughout the post discharge process.
The Utah-based company recently announced a partnership with Google for Work that will equipped Google Chromebooks with TruClinic’s online telemedicine solution. The telemedicine solution is also being used by University of Utah Health Care and After Hours Medical.
