Florida Community Health Centers enhances patient care, engagement and accessibility with Qure4u’s virtual capabilities
At a glance
8,000+
telehealth visits via the Qure4u platform
5,100+
unique patients using virtual care options
200+
patients enrolled in a hypertension remote patient monitoring program
The digital health and telehealth capabilities provided by Qure4u allowed providers to seamlessly transition from in-person to virtual visits, without any impact on the quality or patient experience. And, the patient interfaces are so easy to use. Even in our most underserved populations, the patients were still able to successfully schedule and obtain a telehealth visit.
— Dr. Alejandro Miquel, Chief Medical Officer, Florida Community Health Centers
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Challenge
Pandemic limits patient access
Florida Community Health Centers is a federally qualified healthcare center providing comprehensive primary, dental, pharmacy, and behavioral health services across 14 locations in six Florida counties. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for patients to physically receive care safely. Due to state regulations and social distancing guidelines, it wasn’t uncommon to see patients delaying preventative care during the height of the pandemic. FCHC’s 500 employees and clinicians needed to identify safe, new ways to maintain care delivery.
“We needed to evolve to a digital engagement strategy that not only captured patients’ attention, but kept them fully engaged in their care,” said Dr. Alejandro Miquel, chief medical officer.
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Solution
Qure4u supports digital strategy
FCHC looked to athenahealth Marketplace partner Qure4u to implement a virtual care strategy, and launched telehealth services in August 2020.
The addition of Qure4u DriveUp™ functionality enabled the FCHC to add COVID screenings to digital workflows to further reduce the risk of exposure. Staff are able to send a quick link once a patient arrives to get real-time responses to a screening questionnaire. Any potential COVID-positive responses are immediately converted to a telehealth visit using the same Qure4u platform.
FCHC bolstered the safety of in-person visits once those resumed. Qure4u digital check-in offers patients a way to easily sign in for appointments, fill out paperwork, and pay copays, all from their mobile device — further limiting physical in-office interactions.
In July 2021, FCHC started a remote patient monitoring (RPM) program focused on hypertension patients. Each is given a kit with a scale and blood pressure cuff to use to monitor and report blood pressure readings from home. The goal is to keep patients connected between visits for proactive monitoring and early intervention.
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Results
Enhanced patient engagement and care.
Since offering telehealth visits through Qure4u platform’s platform, FCHC has delivered more than 5,100 unique patient visits, with over 8,000 total encounters performed using that modality. More than 200 patients are now enrolled in the RPM initiative. “With Qure4u, we were able to significantly increase the number of patients we were able to enroll in the program, as well as better focus care managers on the patients who were non-compliant or out of range,” said Miquel.
Besides limiting exposure to COVID-19, the virtual care initiatives helped keep visit volume stead and increase access for a patient population that frequently encounters transportation issues.
The results of using Qure4u are both quantitative and qualitative, Miquel said. Qure4u is fully embedded within the athenahealth EHR, so there are no disruptive workfl ow changes, or new systems for clinicians to learn. “The digital health and telehealth capabilities provided by Qure4u allowed providers to seamlessly transition from in-person to virtual visits, without any impact on the quality or patient experience. And, the patient interfaces are so easy to use.”
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* All metrics provided by Qure4u. Please note that as a member of the Marketplace Program, Qure4u and athenahealth are parties to a financial arrangement.