How a simple QR code can prevent 2,000 emergency room admissions
Gold Coast Health, a public health service in Queensland, recently introduced a new digital front door for patients with chronic diseases.
The General Medicine-Rapid Access Service (G-RAS) offers an alternative patient management pathway. Patients can reach their doctor for follow-up via a scan of a QR code that can be taken home via secure two-way messaging and voice or video calls.
WHY IT MATTERS
GCH provides a range of secondary and tertiary healthcare services to approximately 700,000 people in more than 20 health centers across the Gold Coast region.
To relieve some pressure in the busy emergency department, it launched the G-RAS with the help of Foxo, a health communications technology provider.
“Foxo’s Patient Connect Platform offers patients with chronic and acute conditions a secure communication channel to connect with a doctor. Foxo specializes in secure clinical communication within the healthcare sector, making it a very suitable partner for the purpose of (our) G – RAS service,” explains a GCH spokesperson partnership Healthcare IT news.
The service runs on Foxo’s Patient Connect Platform, which enables so-called “unified communications”; it is seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams, allowing healthcare teams to invite their patients into the MS Teams environment even without having an existing account there.
“Patients with chronic and acute conditions may require ongoing support in managing and monitoring symptoms. Previously, patients experiencing a change in symptoms often required emergency department consultation. The G-RAS service allows these patients to a secure way to connect with their doctor to receive virtual care, reducing avoidable emergency room presentations.”
Additionally, the platform integrates with GCH’s EMR system, ensuring secure and fast access to essential patient information as well.
The GCH spokesperson said they expect the digitally enabled G-RAS to help reduce up to 2,000 unscheduled ED presentations each year.
ON THE RECORD
“The integration of Foxo’s comprehensive communications platform puts our healthcare system at the forefront of modern healthcare and accessibility. Our focus on improving patient access and reducing emergency visits underscores our commitment to improving healthcare outcomes,” said Sandip Kumar, executive director of Strategy , Transformation and Major Capital at GCH said in a press release.