Frequently Asked Questions

What makes this Skilled Nursing Facility Program so unique?

The PhoneDOCTORx telemedicine physician coverage will provide patients and their families with timely access to a physician during times when their personal physician is not immediately available. Patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNF) often have urgent medical needs. Unfortunately, today’s health care environment places multiple demands on our community physicians, including coverage of office, hospital and nursing home practices. This program offers coverage of physician’s practices at Skilled Nursing Facilities through the use of evening and weekend telemedicine coverage. As a result, timely medical encounters will improve upon the quality of care delivered at these facilities.

What will this program mean to the patients and their families?

This covering physician telemedicine program provides timely access to medical care for patients and the option to teleconference with patients and their families during evening and weekend visiting hours. Patients are expected to benefit through more timely intervention. In some cases, this approach may avoid the need for an uncomfortable and stressful trip to the Emergency Department.

How does this program improve quality of care?

Access to more timely medical intervention can often resolve problems that, if left untreated, could ultimately result in hospitalization. As an example, earlier identification of an infection would result in earlier treatment at a time when the problem is less severe and may respond more quickly to treatment. In more acutely ill patients, immediate consultation may result in transferring the patient to an emergency department more quickly before the problem worsens. In these cases, the physician can also help stabilize the patient while awaiting transfer.

Is this a cost effective means of delivering health care services to this patient population?

Yes. While the focus of the program is timely access to high quality care for the patient, a beneficial byproduct of that interaction is likely to be fewer emergency department visits, fewer hospitalizations and, ultimately, a reduction in health care expenditure.

What do the statistics say?

Studies completed for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts indicate that anywhere from 20 to 45% of Emergency Department visits are avoidable. Clearly, reducing such encounters will save the system considerably. According to the Massachusetts Medical Society, the average wait for existing patients to see their doctor in Massachusetts is 15.3 days. The average wait for a new patient to see a doctor is 26.2 days. Looking at the larger picture, in about 10 to 15 years the first wave of post-war baby boomers will begin to retire and we will start to see a large generational shift from young to old. This generational shift will place enormous financial and operational burdens on our health care system. The health care industry needs to begin focusing on ways to improve patient access to care through efficient, effective and original approaches that treat patients in the most appropriate settings.