Virtual visits: new technology enters doctor's office

CHILLICOTHE – A flyer for new patients is laying out at the Hanes Chiropractic Center, but those who sign up won't be seeing a doctor face-to-face.

The Hanes Chiropractic Center has opened a room in the office to Optimized Care Network (OCN) to allow for new technology that aims to treat more patients. According to Angela Stuller, the Registered Nurse Care Coordinator at the Hanes Optimized CareSpace location, one of the goals of this system is to help patients who do not have regular access to health care, or a regular physician.

OCN has developed technology that makes doctors appointments almost entirely virtual. The specialized equipment sends live video, audio, and photos to an off-site primary care or specialty physician, who can provide a diagnosis and write prescriptions.

"She's my hands in the room," Erin McCaffrey Crespo, one of OCN's nurse practitioners, said.

The Optimized CareSpace technology also is aimed to speed up the process of a regularly scheduled appointment. Rather than seeing a nurse or nurse practitioner first, then seeing a doctor, the RN in the room can examine the patient while the doctor is on conference call. Stuller says with PresenceCare video technology, appointments take about 20 minutes, instead of closer to an hour wait-time, like she says patients have experienced in doctor's offices before.

Crespo is stationed in Columbus, at the company's Easton headquarters. While most of her work is done through PresenceCare, she says that she will make occasional visits to CareSpace stations to see patients who need a face to face visit. Patients who will require a narcotics prescription, or behavioral health visits are just some examples of appointments that must be done in person, according to Crespo.

"We're not trying to replace the face-to-face aspect," McCaffrey said.

Throughout the appointment, a Registered Nurse is present in the room to operate the tools and the Optimized CareSpace technology. A doctor, like Crespo, conferences in through the PresenceCare video technology and can guide the entire appointment through live video feed.

"You think it's something that would feel detached, but both of us have felt more attached. I spent the entire time looking at my patient's face," Crespo said.

For now, the practice is focusing on family medicine, diabetes care, care for older adults, Medicare well checks, and assistance with smoking and tobacco cessation. Stuller says that through the Optimized CareSpaces, doctors can diagnose 89 of 97 traditional diagnoses seen in family practices.

Stuller said it took her a month of shadowing the company before deciding to take the job. Her main concern was how much interaction she would have with the patients, and whether, after years of working in an emergency room, she still like she was making a difference in patients' lives.

"It's a different quality of care... and in some ways, I can offer more."