Family Practice Nursing Commons^™

Telehealth Visits For Common Concerns In A Primary Care Setting: Establishing A Protocol, Erin M. Leighton

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Background: Barriers to accessing healthcare in Vermont include: weather conditions, rurality, lack of public transportation systems, and busy schedules. Telehealth mitigates these barriers, providing a safe and effective option on par with in-person visits, while lowering overall healthcare costs and increasing patient satisfaction. This project aimed to expand telehealth visits in a nurse practitioner-run primary care practice, via designing effective protocols and educating clinicians on telehealth use, requirements, documentation, and billing in order to complete telehealth visits successfully.

Methods: Infrastructure for telehealth: a workflow protocol, patient education materials, procurement of technological resources including iPads, and necessary, HIPAA compliant, secure accounts. …

Blood Pressure Management Education, Lauren G. Gernon, Cara Rathmell

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The expansion of telehealth with COVID-19 and recent recommendations to use at-home blood pressure monitoring to diagnose and monitor hypertension have increased the need for materials and education for clinicians and patients. A pilot project in Primary Care Internal Medicine UVM in Essex, VT, produced an electronic medical record dot phrase and compiled educational materials to initiate nurse visits for at-home BP measurements. Materials and experience with this pilot was researched for initiation of a similar program at UVM Family Medicine Hinesburg.

The Implementation Of Telehealth In Disease Management At Patient-Centered Medical Home, Mirsada Nurkanovic

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Project Publications

Purpose: Telehealth (TH) and video conferencing in the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) can bridge geographical gaps between patients and providers, by eliminating the inconveniences of leaving the house and traveling to appointments. The evidence indicates that TH also: provides clinical benefits in high-risk patients¹, improves glucose control², improves quality of life and reduces ED visits and hospitalizations for patients with COPD³, enables self-care of patients with heart failure⁴, reduces risk of admission for patients with asthma⁵, improves medication adherence⁶, results in potential cost savings⁷, and provides …