Physicians4U is a service-based company based in Miami , Florida offering a total video IP solution for the telemedicine problems facing healthcare providers. It is a simple service tailored to meet local needs, addressing a significant healthcare dilemma: the shortage of specialist time and the difficulty in getting a specialist’s expertise to the localities where patients live.
We offer telemedicine solutions with the goal of ensuring a delay of no more than approximately 3 days from doctor referral to diagnosis result. This is not a one-time temporary solution, but one that is maintained on an ongoing basis. Waiting lists are not necessary for the vast majority of cases, and the ability to manage patients promptly at the Primary Care level ensures optimal care for patients who require hospitalization. This is achieved without the need for excessive capital expenditure, encroachment on existing staff time or the need for patient travel. The services offered are also comprehensive, incorporating face-to-face consultations and surgical intervention when appropriate.
Telemedicine Services
Our telemedicine services are individually designed for mobility and flexibility to meet the immediate requirements. All that is required is access to consulting rooms on a regular basis by Physicians4u. The frequency and exact location for all such clinics can be agreed locally, and reviewed in the light of demand. The dates and times for these consultations can be relatively flexible, working around the individual physicians’ other commitments. Our nursing and technical staff will run the clinics, forwarding results to specialists who will return a diagnosis and treatment plan to the referring physician within 10 working days of the consultation.
Physicians4u is currently planning an annual screening program for Medicaid patients in Broward County and Miami-Dade County , Florida . This project has already generated huge political support and we anticipate the extension of this service to neighboring and foreign locations. We have received numerous inquiries about this program on a regular basis, including those from Australia , the Far East , the Indian Sub-Continent and Eastern Europe.Service Delivery
Once clinic workload levels are established, we will arrange suitable consultation days and times for each clinic. Each patient requires, on average, a 10-minute consultation. Before the consultation, the patient submits the standard referral letter that usually accompanies a request for a specialist’s opinion. Patients can submit the referral letter by fax, email or regular mail to the Physicians4u office. Once the referral is complete, the patient calls a toll-free number to arrange a convenient appointment for the consultation. An appointment can be arranged and confirmed over the telephone for the next available clinic time in their home area. A confirmation letter is then sent to the patient, inviting them to attend. If the patient does not arrange an appointment, we set an appointment based on the referral and attempt to contact the patient for confirmation or further information. An electronic medical record for each patient is established in our secure database, incorporating information from the referral letter.
Our nurse/technician will attend on the day of the consultation and will attend to their patients from the waiting area. Reception staff may, however, wish to keep a copy of the consultation list to be aware of appointments. All patients will be given a unique Physicians4u reference number, in addition to any reference provided within the referral letter.
The data is collected on a laptop computer and images are embedded within the patient’s electronic record. At the end of the consultation, the records are sent by the nurse back to the website for collection by the named specialist. The specialist will upload the records, then diagnose and offer a treatment plan. The office will print these results and forward them to the referring doctor within 10 working days of the consultation. A letter is also sent to the patient advising them of the next course of action.
Patient records are retained in electronic format under secure password protection in two separate locations. Specialists’ computers retain no records, and clinic computers are purged after each consultation to reduce the vulnerability of records in the event of criminal activity.
Additional Services
Our goal is to offer comprehensive services in areas where no suitable local alternative is available, regardless of the specialty. These additional services depend on the specialty involved, for example, in the case of dermatology treatment:
* Ongoing treatment/management by the family physician – this covers the vast majority of cases.
* Minor surgical intervention – often carried out by family practice doctors with the appropriate skills and facilities
* Face to face consultations with specialists
* Simple cryosurgical intervention – often carried out by suitably qualified nurses
* Patch testing – again, often carried out by suitably qualified nursing staff
* Onward referrals for hospital based care – often by another discipline, such as plastic surgery.
We offer face-to-face consultations for treatment as a back-up solution, and to resolve those few cases that are not diagnosable by telemedicine. This service is particularly useful where no specialist support is locally available. These clinics are likely to be held once a month initially. Patients who require this service will be identified as part of the treatment plan report sent by the specialist following the consultation.
In addition to the services outlined above, Physicians4u invites locally-based family physicians with surgical expertise to join the Physicians4u network under the guidance of a specialist, to perform face-to-face consultations for the more common conditions. For example, a dermatology consultation may include use of liquid nitrogen, cautery or biopsies. This consultation format is more cost-effective than utilizing hospital time or a visiting specialist’s time. It also ensures that a common, high-quality healthcare service is available to all patients within an area, irrespective of the ability of their own family physician to cope with surgical needs. Nursing support is also provided by Physicians4u in the clinics, with the potential to run Specialized Nursing clinics for basic treatments and certain minor surgical interventions.
We also offer a full domiciliary service when frailty makes traveling to the local clinic too difficult or cumbersome.
Similar additional services can be provided, or arranged as required, in the fields of dentistry and diabetic screening. The Company will tailor such services to match local needs and existing shortages.
Data generated from computerized referrals can be substantial, therefore we make that data available to specialists in various formats for their use and review. We are happy to work with our specialists and contractors to identify trends and develop methods of improving our services.