The SHO hospitals continue to work together to address the advent of telehealth services in our communities. Launched in early 2017 on a shared platform called myVirtualHealthVisit, nine SHO hospitals have been party to a collective agreement with American Well to offer video visits to patients. This group agreement through SHO has allowed the participating hospitals to begin piloting/launching telehealth use cases in cost-effective fashion. Each SHO hospital has had its own branded virtual urgent care practice accessible via the myVirtualHealthVisit app or web browser since launch, while some have also extended services to school nursing offices, added telehealth to employer clinic relationships, and piloted primary care follow-up visits. In 2019, the emphasis on telehealth through SHO has grown:
- The American Well agreement was recently renewed through September of 2020, with Goshen Health becoming the 10th hospital to participate.
- A new discounted SHO agreement has been executed with TytoCare, a peripheral-based telehealth company, perfect for use cases where the hospitals’ own providers are being utilized and high quality, real-time patient vitals, heart and lung sounds, etc. are critical. Henry Community Health and Margaret Mary Health are currently launching this technology within local school systems.
- The SHO Telehealth Clinical Transformation Task Force has launched. Facilitated by American Well, this multidisciplinary group is undertaking a series of sessions aimed at facilitating the most appropriate application of digital health strategies among the SHO hospitals.
- Several exciting new use cases are in active discussions including additional school system utilization, long term care facilities, post-op visits and behavioral health.
For more information on SHO’s telehealth initiatives, contact Dan Leiter at 317-692-5222 ext. 267.