I think we all know by now that the pandemic has led to a dramatic surge in the use of telehealth. In Arizona, that was partly thanks to several executive orders our governor signed in March and April of 2020 expanding telehealth coverage and flexibilities for the duration of the public health emergency. (Scroll to Executive Orders 2020-07, 2020-15, and 2020-29.)
Telemedicine and the technologies that provide the service delivery have swiftly become the essential, everyday apparatus keeping the US healthcare system afloat in 2020. Patients have adapted well to the rapid switch to teleconferencing appointments and assessments with their general practitioner.
HIPAA compliance is difficult to achieve under normal circumstances but during a global pandemic, healthcare institutions have faced an uphill struggle. As hospitals, practices, and clinics closed, a seismic shift towards telemedicine was embarked upon. For many healthcare entities, this was something completely new, for others it was a simple change of routine.
A storm surge and a tsunami are vastly different entities. A storm surge is an oceanic phenomenon resulting from the piling up of surface water from the sustained pressure of wind in a storm. Damage, in human terms, is typically limited to structures along the coastline. A tsunami is a very different phenomenon. Often caused by a natural disaster such as an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, the tsunami carries enormous energy in the form of a sheet of water spanning the ocean’s surface down to its floor. Its devastation can disrupt the fabric of society deep inland.
What is Telemedicine?
In short, telemedicine is the remote treatment or consultation provided by a medical professional via electronic means such as phone call, video conference or online chat. Such communication is carried out in real time when a patient needs medical advice that doesn’t require physical presence of a patient at the doctor’s office.
The goal of telehealth is to make treatment more convenient and more cost-efficient. What is more, it is a lifesaver for patients with chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure who aren’t in need of emergency treatment, but need regular medical advice on lifestyle regime, or medicine dosage.
Hushabye Nursery will provide compassionate, non-stigmatizing care to at-risk mom’s and babies during their stay and address their psychosocial needs after discharge.
Tara Sundem, RN, NNP-BC, MS, used to think the best place for babies going through withdrawal was not with their parents. Sundem admits that she, like many of her colleagues, used to judge parents when newborns in her neonatal ICU were going through withdrawal.
Sundem now believes she was wrong after studying Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) and says the best place for these newborns almost always is with their parents, even if those parents are not yet drug free. We should be able to ‘think out of the box’ to ensure the biological parents are able to ‘parent’. As long as it is safe, babies should be with their parents. She learned that the entire family needs to be involved to improve outcomes.
