PhoneDOCTORx

Telegraph In

Connect with PDRx &
the telehealth community

News Articles

ATA: Top 7 Trends Impacting Telehealth in 2012

January 09, 2012

The CEO of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), Jonathan Linkous, has published 7 predictions for telemedicine and the greater telehealth market as we enter 2012. According to Linkous, his predictions relate to the latest trends that will "shape telemedicine and telehealth in the immediate future," saying these trends represent "major changes from the existing norm, creating new challenges and opportunities for the industry." Read More...

Credentialing for Telemedicine

November 2011

In the November 2010 Law and Ethics column of Vital Signs, we highlighted a number of legal issues surrounding the practice of telemedicine. Since then, one issue has been resolved: for the purpose of meeting Conditions of Participation (CoP) for Medicaid and Medicare, hospitals may, in some circumstances, rely upon the privileging and credentialing process of the facility where the physician is located (the "distant site"). Read More...

Horizon Marketing has been retained by American Doctors Online (PhoneDOCTORx)

October 2011

Horizon Marketing has been retained by American Doctors Online (PhoneDOCTORx) to develop a comprehensive strategy to power the evolution of their marketing and sales value proposition.

Reducing Unnecessary Hospitalizations of Nursing Home Residents

September 29, 2011

It's a common scenario: a 90-year-old resident of a U.S. nursing home — call her Ms. B. — has moderately advanced Alzheimer's disease, congestive heart failure with severe left-ventricular dysfunction, and chronic pain from degenerative joint disease. Read More...

U.S. Hospitals, Facing New Medicare Penalties, Show Wide Room for Improvement at Reducing Readmission Rates

September 28, 2011

As scorekeeping begins for new Medicare penalties for hospitals with excessive numbers of patients returning shortly after they are discharged, a new Dartmouth Atlas Project report shows little progress over a five-year period in reducing these hospital readmissions and improving care coordination for Medicare patients. Read More...

Viewpoint: Telemedicine's Lasting Change for Nursing Home Patients (and EDs)

September 2011

The use of audiovisual communications to enhance medical care for patients remote from physicians is not new. Radiologists have been reviewing films this way for many years. Even in the 1980s, I had a telemedicine connection to an island in Lake Erie supported by emergency physicians at a Toledo hospital some 60 miles away. Read More...

Florida Hospital Association Webinar

December 2009

PDRx was featured in a Webinar Conference, sponsored by the Florida Hospital Association (FHA), which discussed the issue of hospital readmissions from SNFs. Approximately 60 Florida hospitals and SNFs participated and it was a great opportunity to showcase our program. Our value in addressing the above challenges was readily and widely recognized by the participants.

The Board of American Doctor's Online is excited to welcome two new board members; Dr. Alan Woodward and Mr. John Day.

February 2009

John B. Day is President and Chief Executive Officer of Southcoast Health System, comprising St. Luke's Hospital, Charlton Memorial Hospital and Tobey Hospital ... Read More...

Alan C. Woodward, M.D., FACEP began his practice of Emergency Medicine in Massachusetts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in 1981. In 1989, he was recruited to ... Read More...

The Costs and Potential Savings Associated with Nursing Home Hospitalizations

November 6, 2007

Better prevention and treatment of pneumonia and other common ambulatory conditions in nursing homes could reduce avoidable hospitalizations for residents while saving Medicare and other public programs money, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study in the journal Health Affairs. Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx presents at the annual Massachusetts Extended Care Federation meeting and exposition

November 16, 2006

PhoneDOCTORx presents to the MECF (www.mecf.com) a group which represents more than 500 skilled nursing facilities, assisted living residences and continuing care retirement communities, MECF is the voice of the long term care provider community in Massachusetts.

Health Care Center unveils breakthrough video technology

Standard-Times staff writer | April 26, 2006

Imagine if the television and camera set-ups that offices use for video teleconferencing were brought to a nursing home.

Suddenly, an elderly patient who had trouble breathing in the middle of the night could skip a stressful ambulance ride and costly ER trip and talk to a doctor via a television and camera hook-up right from her bed.

Dr. Paul Bulat imagined just that last December when his mother had a stoke and was later taken to the New Bedford Health Care Center, a skilled nursing facility.

Press Releases

PhoneDOCTORx partners with Lexington Health Care Center

January 10, 2012

PhoneDOCTORx (PDRx) has partnered with the Lexington Health Care Center, a 179-bed post-acute and skilled health care center. PhoneDOCTORx provides patients with direct phone and/or video access to physicians via telemedicine during its hours of operation when primary care coverage is less available. Read More...

Wilmington Health Care Center partners with telemedicine - Wilmington, MA - Wilmington Advocate

December 26, 2011

American Doctors Online (ADOL), the practice management company for PhoneDOCTORx (PDRx) announced this week that PhoneDOCTORx has partnered with the Wilmington Health Care Center, a 132-bed, JCAHO accredited, skilled nursing center in the heart of Merrimack Valley. Read More...

Fairhaven telemedicine company hires first CEO to steer growth

December 22, 2011

American Doctors Online, the Fairhaven-based practice management company for telemedicine pioneer PhoneDOCTORx, has hired Brian Lane as its first chief executive officer. Lane will pursue growth opportunities for ADOL and oversee operations for PDRx which provides on-call telemedicine services to patients at 15 extended care facilities in Massachusetts. Read More...

Boston Business Journal Highlights PDRx's Success in Telehealth

December 16, 2011

PhoneDOCTORx, a telemedicine company focused on serving nursing home patients, has just opened a second call center in Cambridge, and has reached 30,000 clinical calls. Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx opens second location in Cambridge

December 13, 2011

Cambridge — Massachusetts' own telemedicine leader in the extended care facility market, PhoneDOCTORx, will open its second medical call center at 58 Charles St. in the Senior Whole Health building. Read More...

The PDRx Team is comprised of the top healthcare professionals, many of whom have been recognized by thier peers and industry accolades

December 2011

www.macep.org
www.rigelweb.com

Current global mHealth opportunity is $50B

February 24, 2010

According to recent report from McKinsey & Company, "opportunities" in the global mobile healthcare market are worth about $50 billion in 2010. The consulting firm pegs the US mHealth opportunity at $20 billion, or nearly half the global market. McKinsey estimated the market opportunities after conducting a survey of 3,000 consumers — 500 from each of the following countries: Brazil, USA, Germany, South Africa, India and China. Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx article in McKight's Long Term Care News

July 2009

"I couldn't live without"

House Calls

June 2009

Mrs. Wilson, a patient in a local nursing facility, experiences wheezing and shortness of breath at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. Read More...

Telemedicine service used by doctors helps reduce cost at nursing homes

April 19, 2009

When PhoneDOCTORx, a unique telemedicine service, debuted at a New Bedford nursing home almost three years ago, it was a novelty at the facility. Read More...

Nursing home will have doctor video-conferencing

March 20, 2009

PhoneDOCTORx said it is bringing video-conferencing technology to Weymouth Health Care Center. The technology will enable nursing home residents ... Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx, Inc. selected as one of 11 finalists by New England Healthcare Institute for one of most promising healthcare technology in 2009

January 22, 2009

The FAST search for promising technologies initiated in 2008 was focused on identifying telemedicine technologies ... Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx article in McKight's Long Term Care News

August 2007

"Doctors, Patients staye better connected via telemedicine"

Vendor Notebook: DocuSys sponsors IT center at Penn med school

June 18, 2007

PhoneDOCTORx, which provides nursing home residents with immediate access to physicians by supplementing on-site visits with teleconferences, has moved its corporate headquarters to Fairhaven, Mass.

PhoneDOCTORx could change the face of patient care

May 2007

The emergence of a state-of-the-art telemedicine system called PhoneDOCTORx™, right in the heart of New Bedford, could very well change the face of patient care for the better ... Read More...

Doctor just a phone call away

March 8, 2007

A Brewster doctor is using technology to bring accessible medical consultation services to extended care facilities for the elderly in Massachusetts ... Read More...

PhoneDOCTORx on the cover of Boston Magazine

March 2007

"Phoning it In"

For some seniors, the doctor's office is now onscreen

Nursing homes seen deficient on basic care. Nursing homes seen deficient on basic care.

Boston Globe | July 3, 2006

Tens of thousands of nursing home residents must be sent to the hospital each year because of a breakdown in basic medical care at the facilities, specialists say, a scenario that exposes frail elderly people to unnecessary trauma and illness... Read More...

Alan C. Woodward, M.D., FACEP began his practice of Emergency Medicine in Massachusetts at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in 1981. In 1989, he was recruited to Emerson Hospital to be the Chief of Emergency Medicine, a role he filled until 2007, transforming Emerson's Emergency Room in to a state-of-the-art Emergency Department in all respects. He has been recognized as a trailblazer for emergency medicine in Massachusetts. A committed patient advocate, he has worked tirelessly to improve access to high-quality emergency care and to enhance public health. Currently he pursues his interests in health policy and public health and sits on numerous healthcare related boards, local and State committees, and on the Massachusetts Public Health Council. In addition he has been active in organized medicine at the local, district, state and national levels. Dr. Woodward has served as president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and has also served on the Board of Trustees, the House of Delegates and numerous committees and tasks forces. He chaired the Committee on Legislation, and in that role after years of persistent efforts, successfully negotiated the language of Chapter 141, the comprehensive managed care Patient Bill of Rights which passed the Massachusetts Legislature in 2000. He also served as a member of the committees on Strategic Planning, Administration and Management, Nominations, and task forces on Prescription Coverage, Access to Health Insurance, Hospital Closure, Conversions & Mergers, and Ethical Standards in Managed Care, among others. On the district level, he served as vice president and president of the Middlesex Central District Medical Society. In his specialty, Dr. Woodward has held many leadership positions including president of the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians (MACEP). He also served for many years as a councilor to the House of Delegates of the American College of Emergency Physicians. At Emerson Hospital, Dr. Woodward has also served in numerous leadership positions including as president of their medical staff, on the hospital Board of Directors, the IPA Board of Directors, as well as multiple committees including Medical Executive, Professional Review, and Strategic Planning and currently serves on the Foundation Board of Directors. He also served on the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Statewide Diversion Task Force (now the Statewide Boarding and Patient Flow Task Force) which he co-chairs with the Commissioner of Public Health. He also served on the Regional Emergency Medicine Services Advisory Committee, the State EMCAB Committee, and currently serves on the Statewide Medical Surge Committee as well as the Public Health Council, since 2007. In addition, he has served on Emergency Physician Advisory Committees at Tufts Associated Health Plans, Harvard-Pilgrim Health Care, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. For his contributions to emergency medicine, MACEP honored him with the Vanguard Award for Outstanding Service In Emergency Medicine, the President's Award for Leadership and Dedication in Emergency Medicine and in 2001 with the Pinnacle Award for commitment to quality emergency care. He also received the 2001 Award for Distinguished Service to the Massachusetts Medical Society. In 2002, the Metropolitan Boston Emergency Medical Services Council presented him with the Mark E. Weinstein, M.D. Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Region IV EMS System. He was also noted by Boston Magazine to be one of the People to Watch in 2002 and in 2008, received national recognition by the American College of Emergency Physicians as a Hero of Emergency Medicine. A graduate of Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, Dr. Woodward received a master's degree in bioengineering at Columbia University before earning his M.D. degree at Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed a flexible internship at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and his residency in emergency medicine at Bowman Gray School of Medicine/North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem. He lives in Concord with his wife, Elise, an architect, and has two children, Lauren and Andrew, both recent college graduates.