Avoid the ER?
Janine Scott, MBA
Growing B2B through tech & innovation with expertise in market entry, intelligence, and scaling startups. Building revenue-driven teams across sales, marketing, and ops. Currently deep in broadcast and media innovation.
How do you avoid the Emergency Room? We all hate going; no one wants to add to a burdened system; yet options for alternative care are usually limited.
Context: We are lucky. My family has a fabulous and hardworking family doctor and a pediatrician. However, when it comes to an asthma exacerbation and low SPO2 levels, we heed their advice and head to emerge.
While sitting in the emergency waiting room with my son, I overhear story after story of those here as strictly as a last resort (for hours on end). There are countless reasons: no family Doctor; lack of available appointments; no telehealth or virtual care options; closure of their regular ER; and more. Unfortunately, the situation is a symptom of our public, free, wonderful, yet incredibly complicated, complex, and burdened healthcare system.
There is no easy fix, no one solution. Thankfully, many are trying to do what they can and each step forward is one toward improvement. Unfortunately - it is just simply not fast enough.
So, dear reader, I'm curious. What do you think can improve or help our system(s)? What tech, innovations, people, or programs can divert unnecessary visits to the ER, help reduce wait times, or improve care? How do YOU avoid the ER if you don't need to go?
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While I sit here, I 'google' the wait time at this, and interestingly, I discover St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton has a Virtual ER physician visit program. How Amazing is that!? It seems they are not the only ones, Unity Health Toronto offers one too. More recently, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton has taken things one step further, launching a pilot program with Hamilton Health Sciences and the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) to expand the program's reach and the virtual offerings to include youth (below 18 years of age) as well.
I also know of Paramedics expanding services into Community Care to support vulnerable populations at home, improve patient care and outcomes, and also divert potential unnecessary visits to ERs. The concept is about being proactive and intervening before conditions turn emergent.
Back to my initial question.... how do YOU avoid the ER? If you can. What do you do if the situation isn't emergent and another approach can manage it? Share your stories and thoughts - what have you seen elsewhere you'd like to see implemented or available in your area? What med tech gets you excited about possibly addressing the 'crisis' we're in?