Telehealth and Remote Care to Combat COVID-19

As the world responds to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, telehealth is a critical resource. With e-visits and video visits, organizations across the Epic community are freeing up health system capacity to respond to COVID-19 cases and slowing the spread of infection by giving patients the option to stay home rather than visit the clinic. Here’s how several Epic community members across the United States and in outbreak epicenters are using telehealth to address COVID-19.

See Patients for Virtual Visits with MyChart

Video visits help clinicians triage patients remotely, which helps reduce lines at the clinic while encouraging patients to stay at home when possible.
At Boulder Community Health in Boulder, Colorado, patients see a reminder that video visits are available when they visit MyChart’s home page. Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver updated their appointment reminders to let patients know when to stay home instead of coming into the clinic and to provide hygiene instructions for in-person visits.

At organizations like NYU Langone Health in New York City, patients can request a video visit with a provider from their phones or computers using MyChart. Nurse practitioners see patients through video on request, and patients can self-select a visit time that’s convenient for them.

Help Patients Partner in Their Care

Speaking with a nurse or self-evaluating symptoms from home is both convenient for patients and a best practice for containing COVID-19 because patients can avoid contacting others who might be infected if they’re well and avoid spreading the infection if they’re ill.

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio uses self-triage decision trees in MyChart to help patients determine whether they have symptoms of a cold, flu, or COVID-19. OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois uses guidance in Epic to help nurses triage patients with symptoms. If a video visit is needed, they can jump to MyChart to schedule one.

Many more organizations are using telehealth to care for patients or launching initiatives soon. For more information on using Epic to help clinicians combat COVID-19, Epic community members can refer to the Managing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) With Epic white paper, which is updated regularly with recommended build and workflows, or watch this webinar from Epic’s telehealth team.