We say this often, but the way we portrayed it over the covid pandemic is something we want to take the time to celebrate. We admire each clinical area’s deep commitment to serving the community and wanted to share their success with you.
Clinical and Administration Teams
Within 12 hours of the mandate from the state, our administrative team completely changed our staffing and workflows. The pharmacy shifted from on-site services to delivery services. When patients came to visit, our administrative team enacted front entry screening and incorporated curbside waiting.
We helped reduce patient flow to the local hospitals for non-urgent issues, and quickly developed processes to meet community needs, like covid testing, telehealth and more. Our teams, specifically our support staff, were amazingly flexible, assuming different roles and taking on new challenges to take care of our patients. Numerous staff members who were at home reached out and offered to come in and work whatever role we needed them to work.
Behavioral Health Services
Many patients faced challenging situations and crises during the pandemic. We gave patients more options to reach their provider, and we implemented services they have not previously used. Because our behavioral health team could easily schedule and see patients remotely, patients were able to receive the care they needed. Our team quickly converted to telehealth, which is still widely being used today.
All curbside visits also completed a depression screening. Many patients told us they knew they needed help but were not sure where to go, so we were able to refer them to behavioral health services. Because of this screening and follow-up plan, depression follow-up stats have increased steadily over the past several months. In April 2020, depression screening interventions resulted in 68% of patients receiving follow-up care. Today, 73% of patients who show signs of depression are receiving follow-up care.
Community Care
White House Clinics offers patient-centered care. That means you as a whole person, not just your doctor visits. Numerous patients expressed issues in accessing food during the pandemic, and we were able to get food bags and assistance to patients.
When we say patients, we mean all patients. When we were also called upon to do testing at the Madison County jail, we took our staff and tested all 300+ inmates and staff numerous times.
We saw many patients in our communities who had never been seen here before, but came to us because their primary care provider was not seeing patients due to the pandemic. Continuity of primary care services is critical for health, and we are proud to have been a part of ensuring no patient in the community had to go without care.
Time is valuable, and you shouldn’t have to spend it waiting to be tested for covid. We worked with our lab vendor to implement an online registration process for community testing to streamline the drive through testing process and reduce errors on the backend.
Thank you to all White House Clinics providers, staff and patients for supporting our community during this crisis. As we continue to serve you, we are so proud you are a part of our family.