LAKELAND, Fla. — A new program allows patients in Polk County to receive care from doctors in the comfort of their homes.
Donald Massey needed further assessment after walking into Lakeland Regional Health last week for bladder issues. On Tuesday, the doctor came to him.
“They can come to your house and do the same thing as they can do in the hospital and it’s a whole lot easier on me and my wife,” said Massey.
It is less stressful for the 84-year-old to be seen by a doctor in the comfort of his home. In the past, Massey would’ve had to stay at the hospital for the duration of his inpatient care.
“Going to bed at night. Eating your own food here, instead of the hospital. It’s a big deal to us, me and my wife,” said Massey.
Lakeland Regional Health just launched its at home program. Doctors and nurses visit patients in their homes or by telehealth throughout the day.
They can administer IVs, medications, oxygen therapy, and around-the-clock remote patient monitoring.
“Each patient has a bio button which is a remote monitoring tool that they carry, and it transmits to us the vital signs of the patient 24/7,” said Dr. Francisco Chebly, Medical Director of LRH at Home.
Patients must live within 30 minutes of Lakeland Regional Health or its freestanding ER.
Registered nurse Jordan Burrows oversees the nurses who go into the community. He said patients are provided with an iPad, where they can reach his team 24/7.
“Our patients are only seconds away from being connected via a secure platform, to where they can have an actual nurse physically look at them and they can look back at a physical nurse,” Burrows said.
Nine patients have signed up for the hospital-at-home program in its first week. Doctors said recovery is faster when a patient is able to heal at home.
“I always learned that 50% of the care that we provide is physical, the rest in mostly mental for the patient. They're scared and anxious about the disease, so putting them back in their environment will make them comfortable and take away the anxiety,” Chebly said.
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