As telehealth expands its potential for redefining rural healthcare, ENA Connection featured Vitalchat’s partnership with McKenzie Health, a Sandusky, MI hospital system that turned to our technology to deliver higher-quality care to ED patients in remote locations.
Since August 2022, the integration has helped fill staffing shortages, reduce provider burnout and improve the patient experience — far more affordably and cost-effectively than previous solutions.
“After reviewing the product…and comparing it to what we used in other organizations, it seemed like an extremely easy-to-use, low-IT expertise and low-maintenance [option],” said McKenzie’s Chief Operating Officer Billi Jo Hennika, MHA, BSN, RN.
With Vitalchat, McKenzie Health can virtually consult with city-based specialty providers, ensuring adequate follow-up and care plan adherence for better health outcomes. Because a single hospitalist group manages both the ED and med-surge patients at McKenzie, our solutions enable staff to consult with intensivists who remotely evaluate patients, write orders and meet demand amid patient surges.
“Vitalchat allows for a more precise plan of care and faster treatment without having to be in a large facility,” said Amanda Teeple-Heydt, RN and med-surge manager. “Really couldn’t be simpler.”
The hospital also plans to partner with Vitalchat on a pilot project to equip ambulance personnel with the technology via iOS app, so ED physicians can connect to patients being treated by EMS in the field.
