Harbor Care Health and Wellness Center in Nashua, is committed to offering primary care, mental health, and dental services to the homeless populations that are at risk of homelessness. Harbor Care is a Federally Qualified Community Center, which was established to provide affordable medical services to foster a better community for everyone.
The issue for the FQHC
Harbor Care Health does not aim for profit, therefore at times, investments in information technology are difficult. With a little IT budget, it is challenging to advance innovative technology solutions.
It can be difficult for Harbor care to keep patients engaged in their overall care, also there are already many risks to their health. By leveraging technology solutions such as mobile and web-based platforms access to the patient’s care team can be provided. The FQHC quickly started deploying technology solutions including Doxy.me and Zoom to offer different channels of communication for the patients of Harbor Care Health.
Making virtual care work
The Telemedicine EMR Software platform greatly relies on strong and good internet connectivity. The Health Center’s infrastructure required drastic improvements to take care of the demands of smartphones, computer systems, and server traffic.
Also, the current telecommunications solution was not designed to take advantage of a unified communications platform. For the successful use of telemedicine services, Harbor Care updated its point-to-point, internet, and VoIP systems.
The web-based VoIP system was integrated from Wildlx with the center’s Office 365 platform. The seamless integration with all the communication systems allowed Harbor Care to offer telehealth solutions to patients effectively and consistently.
Training for telehealth
When the telemedicine software was deployed by Harbor Care Health and Wellness Center, it had the responsibility to train both patients and staff members to use it. By offering training sessions patients will be comfortable with using the powerful virtual care platform and receive prompt care to improve outcomes.
The telehealth platform was used to offer medical care to adults and children. Services offered through the telemedicine solution were primary care, behavioral health, and addiction treatment. Providing mental health care services through remote care technology helped patients to navigate through the pandemic and gave them solace.
Telemedicine solution is now an integral part of Harbor care’s service delivery model. In the year 2021, the center provided 15, 207 virtual visits, whereas in 2019 it offered none. Telemedicine sessions are being utilized to ensure that people receive quality comprehensive care through primary health care physicians.
