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New Technology Arrives at Our Skilled Nursing facilities. PhoneDOCTORx
We are proud to offer PhoneDOCTORx at our Skilled Nursing & Rehab Centers.
Our residents will have access to this exciting new, state-of-the-art technology.
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PhoneDOCTORx is an innovative tele-medicine device that brings
confidential, real time medical consultation directly to patients and
their families.
PhoneDOCTORx utilizes 2-way video conferencing to
provide real time triage and medical coverage through emergency
medicine and primary care physicians located within Medical Control
Centers.
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What does PhoneDOCTORx mean to our residents and their families?
- Increased access and timeliness of care
- Inceased quality of care
- Aides in coverage for Primary Care Physicians
- Evening & weekend physician availability for patient and family questions
- Reduces needless trips to the Emergency Department
To view a brief video demonstration on PhoneDOCTORx, click here
History of PhoneDOCTORx:
President
and Founder Paul I. Bulat, M.D., FACEP, is Board Certified in Emergency
Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. A
graduate of Holy Cross College and the University of Massachusetts Medical
School, Dr. Bulat has been practicing emergency medicine since 1980.
Dr. Bulat
has served as President of the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians
(MACEP) and has received both the Vanguard Award and the Pinnacle Award from
MACEP for his outstanding contributions to the specialty of emergency medicine.
Dr. Bulat authored the MACEP discharge instruction sheets that were adopted by
most emergency departments in Massachusetts and has authored chapters in major
textbooks on emergency medicine and observation medicine.
Dr. Bulat is
Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at St. Luke's Hospital in New
Bedford, MA. St. Luke's is a high-volume (72,000 visits per year) emergency
department and is affiliated with the Beth Israel Deaconess Emergency Medicine
Residency Program in Boston. In addition to his role in emergency medicine, Dr.
Bulat is Medical Director of the Medical and Dental Staff at St. Luke's
Hospital and is a certified administrator in physician practice management.
The
concept of PhoneDOCTORx came to Dr. Bulat after a loved one residing
in a long-term care skilled nursing facility had repeat visits to the
emergency department. Each trip to the Emergency Department resulted
in long periods waiting to be seen by a physician, some times as long
as six hours. Their stay in the Emergency Deaprtment sometimes lasted
for upwards to 12-16 hours. Dr. Bulat felt this technology would
significantly reduce the unnecessary visits to Emergency Departments
for people residing in skilled nursing facilities.
Studies
completed for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts indicate that anywhere from 20
to 45% of Emergency Department visits are avoidable. Clearly, reducing such
encounters will save the system considerably. According to the Massachusetts
Medical Society, the average wait for existing patients to see their doctor in
Massachusetts is 15.3 days. The average wait for a new patient to see a doctor
is 26.2 days. Looking at the larger picture, in about 10 to 15 years the first
wave of post-war baby boomers will begin to retire and we will start to see a
large generational shift from young to old. This generational shift will place
enormous financial and operational burdens on our health care system. The
health care industry needs to begin focusing on ways to improve patient access
to care through efficient, effective and original approaches that treat
patients in the most appropriate settings.
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