As rural providers continue to face labor shortages and access challenges, Sanford Health doubles in virtual care – not just a service product, but a comprehensive model of training, retention and community health.
This month, at the Reuters Digital Health Conference in Nashville, Sanford Chief Medical Officer Jeremy Cauwels explained the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based system that operates in several states in the Midwest.
Cauwels said 79 professional Sanford physicians have provided virtual care this year — those virtual visits save an average of 176 miles per patient’s car trip.
“For some vehicles, it's half the gas tank and half the workload,” he noted.
Cauwels adds that virtual care is not only more convenient for patients, but it can also help fill the critical gaps in access.
He noted that a decade ago, in rural areas around Bemidy, Minnesota, at least one primary care physician gave birth to the baby. He said that now the number is zero.
To address this, Sanford is using virtual tools in the emergency department, such as portable ultrasound and Vitals suites, to remotely evaluate and support pregnant women.
“We were almost able to connect with moms, and also contact those local emergency rooms and make decisions from 100 miles away to see if we needed to ship moms to Bemidji to get the only obstetrics and gynecology care in the area, or whether she could stay at home and recover.”
He also noted that alternating virtual and face-to-face visits help maintain continuity in care and obstetric guidelines, resulting in better maternal and fetal health. Overall, he believes that more frequent communication through virtual means can help avoid the emergency room by identifying problems early.
Tools to improve patient follow-up and monitoring also reduce the emotional burden on doctors, thereby improving job satisfaction and retention, Cauwels said.
He noted that Sanford is fully committed to expanding the impact and impact of virtual care – so much so that the health system has established a physical hub that supports virtual care training and provides technical infrastructure.
“People would say, ‘You don’t need a building to do that.’ We need a building because we need to be able to teach it, we need to be able to accommodate some hardware and software, but most of the time, as we plant more residents, more residents, more researchers, more medical students, they need a place to sit down and actually have the conversation they need to have, and then walk around the wall and then communicate with patients so they can understand the remarks.
He said the virtual nursing center provides clinicians with a place to learn, reflect and engage in patient care using technology.
By investing in people and technology, Sanford is seeking to create a more sustainable future for providers and provide patients with systems that are more accessible.
Photo: Tonefotografia, Getty Images
