Emory Connected Care telehealth allows you to see Emory Healthcare providers from virtually any place. Rather than making a trip to a medical office, you connect with your provider using a highly secure version of Zoom, a videoconferencing tool, via your smartphone, tablet or computer. You receive complete instructions on using the tool before your scheduled appointment. Then, once your Zoom visit is up and running, you and your provider see each other almost as if you were in the same room together.
A telehealth visit is much like an in-person visit. You may first see your provider’s assistant or nurse, then you will speak with your provider directly.
Telehealth services don’t work well for every medical appointment, but they can be used for both primary care and many specialty areas of medicine, including neurology, reproductive health, oncology, transplant and more. While Emory Connected Care has been invaluable during COVID-19, it’s always available to patients, pandemic or not.
Emory Connected Care Makes Health Care Easy
Sometimes, patients are concerned about trying something unfamiliar to them. And that was certainly the case for Stacy.
“I’m not very good with technology,” she says. “I had no idea, really, what Zoom was or how it could help me find care for my condition. I was amazed to learn I could have an appointment over a video call. Being able to see Dr. Vora, as opposed to simply talking to him on the phone, helped put me at ease. And the entire process was easy. There really was nothing to it.”
The very best thing about her Emory Connected Care telehealth visit, however, was that it got things moving quickly — far more quickly than they might have moved, had she been forced to wait for an in-person appointment.
“I had my virtual meeting in the morning with Dr. Vora,” says Stacy. “He said that he wanted to look into a few things and that he’d give me a call back. Little did I know his call would come just a few hours later, asking me what time I could be at the hospital. I was admitted that afternoon.”
Telehealth Works
Through their initial video call and a review of her records, Dr. Vora knew Stacy was a very sick woman, even without seeing her in person.
“She wasn’t doing well,” he recalls. “She was in multiorgan failure; her kidneys were starting to show significant injury and her liver was severely injured, as well.”
The goal of her hospitalization was to manage her acute health issues, but also to quickly evaluate her for a liver transplant, something that happened in near-record time. Less than three weeks after her initial telehealth visit, Stacy had a new liver.
To go from a Zoom call to getting a new organ in just 17 days was remarkable and shows what’s possible at Emory.
“Telemedicine works,” says Dr. Vora. “Transplantation works. And so does our system at Emory.”
Helping People Heal
Patients from all over Georgia and surrounding states rely on Emory for transplant care. With Emory Connected Care, it’s easier and more convenient than ever before to receive needed services. “In many cases, telehealth allows patients to start the transplant process early and avoid complications,” says Dr. Vora.
Today, Stacy is feeling good and doing well. And she couldn’t be more grateful.
“My experience using telehealth at Emory was everything,” she says. “Things just fell into place and went very smoothly. Everyone was very helpful. It was wonderful. Thank you doesn’t even seem like a good enough phrase.”
For more information about Emory Connected Care telehealth, visit emoryhealthcare.org/connectedcare or call 404-778-7777.
