Page 19 - Morehouse School of Medicine Magazine

HEALTH INNOVATION

HERE WAS A TIME WHEN Morehouse and wait times, increases efficiencies audiovisual tools similar to FaceTime
T Healthcare—the clinical arm of and saves money for patients who in or in telephone conversations.
Morehouse School of Medicine— the past needed to secure child care or Federal rules changed and changed
saw just 40 patients per month using eldercare during appointments. again governing reimbursement for re-
teleconferencing technology at MHC For patients who require specialized mote treatment of Medicaid and Medi-
Telehealth. Telemedicine proved to be attention, MHC Telehealth can moni- care patients. Throughout MSM and
a boon for people living in Georgia’s tor them from their homes, gathering its clinics, staffers attended webinars,
rural and underserved counties, nine essential information to allow More- manuals were prepared and changes
of which had no doctors at all. house Healthcare physicians to treat in billing codes and stipulations were
MHC Telehealth was a successful illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, studied as the medical school and health
and helpful service. But it represented heart failure and chronic obstructive care operation navigated the process.
a sliver of the appointments taken at pulmonary disease. “Things were changing rapidly,”
in-person clinics. “When COVID-19 hit and we had Dr. Smith said. “COVID-19 hit, and
And then the coronavirus pandemic to stop face-to-face visits in the office ‘telemed’ was the biggest buzzword
took hold, and everything changed. for safety reasons, we then began to ever.”
In the first month, MHC Telehealth shift focus to delivering care via our Patients were seen remotely by pri-
experienced a 700 percent increase technical platform for telemedicine,” mary care physicians or by special-
in patients. “We were seeing 2,000 said Gregory Antoine, M.D., MSM’s ists, with appointments scheduled in
patients,” said Walkitria Smith, M.D., chief medical officer. advance. Once connected, they were
MSM’s medical director for telemedi- triaged and talked with a
cine. “We had the program in place, but physician, either online or
the surge was stressful.” by telephone. If a patient
Though telemedicine first emerged needed to be seen in per-
in the United States in the late 1950s to son or receive immediate

transmit video, images and medical data “Things were treatment, the physicians
from neurological examinations at the would escalate their visit.
University of Nebraska, fine-tuning and changing rapidly. Overall, the technology
widespread adoption of the technology COVID-19 hit, has broadened access for
took several more decades. many and has illuminated
In 2018, Morehouse School of Medi- and ‘telemed’ “gaps in health care and
cine launched MHC Telehealth to bring ways to bridge that gap,”
health care to rural and other under- was the biggest she said.
served areas of Georgia via videocon- Patients who previous-
ferencing technology. The first patients buzzword ever.” ly would have avoided the
were seen in September of that year, doctor are often more re-
and MSM’s medical students engaged in Walkitria Smith, M.D., MSM’s ceptive to telemedical ser-
formal education in telemedicine soon medical director for telemedicine vices, she said. That’s par-
after. In 2019, family medicine residents ticularly important now, as
began seeing patients on the research patients are quarantining
rotation of telemedicine. Also in 2019, or isolating. A report by the
pharmacy students at the metro Atlan- “We went from 1 percent of visits to American Telemed Association said that
ta campus of Philadelphia College of now up to 74 percent of visits done for 32 percent of telemed patients “would
Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) began primary care in the community,” Dr. not have sought care at all, would not
rotating in telemedicine and participat- Antoine said this summer. He praised have gone to urgent care, because they
ing in interdisciplinary care. the medical school’s telemedicine lead- were afraid of COVID.”
Services now include family medi- ers who had to rapidly push widespread The health equity benefits from
cine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, usage of the technology as the pandemic telemedicine are significant, said Fo-
cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, unfolded. loshade Omole, M.D., chair of MSM’s
internal medicine, bariatrics, pediat- So when COVID-19 emerged, MSM Department of Family Medicine and
rics, endocrinology, infertility and sleep was not caught unprepared. But the pro- director of the MSM Morehouse Health-
medicine. gram’s leaders needed to act quickly and care Telehealth program. “No longer
The program—which has been sup- thoughtfully to scale up. Providers were are some patients luckier than others
ported by Georgia’s $35 million invest- trained in how to conduct examinations simply because of where they live.”
ment in MSM—reduces travel costs and evaluations remotely, either with

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