Partnership gives Cuero residents access to high-quality cardiology close to home
Jan. 6, 2020 (Cuero, Texas) – One year after launching a telecardiology service with Access Physicians, Cuero Regional Hospital has been able to see more than 100 heart patients and keep most of them from being transferred to remote locations for care, away from family and friends and known care providers. Prior to the partnership with Access Physicians, local residents requiring cardiology care had to be transferred to other hospitals farther away.
“There’s no reason that someone’s zip code should determine their access to the best clinical resources,” said Chris Gallagher, M.D., CEO, Access Physicians. “Cuero residents rely on Cuero Regional Hospital to be there for them, no matter their health care need or challenge. With our partnership, Cuero Regional Hospital is keeping keep that promise.”
“To be responsive to the needs of our patients and community, Cuero Regional Hospital needed to be able to offer on-site cardiology, but recruitment challenges and physician shortages made that impossible,” said Lynn Falcone, CEO, Cuero Regional Hospital. “With Access Physicians, our patients now have the same high quality cardiology care at a moment’s notice as patients in other hospitals with on-site physicians.”
Through the partnership, Cuero Regional Hospital connects with an Access Physician, board-certified cardiologist via secure, high-resolution technology in minutes. On-site nurses and health care providers and other physicians have access to the highest level of consultation to diagnose, treat and manage patients with congestive heart failure, arrhythmias and other heart-related conditions.
Given the success of the telecardiology program, Cuero Regional Hospital partnered with Access Physicians once again to launch an outpatient telepsychiatry program via their Outpatient Specialty Clinic in August 2019.
“Prior to implementing the telepsychiatry outpatient program at Cuero Regional Hospital, patients had to travel great distances and often wait weeks or even months for appointments. Thanks to telepsychiatry, Cuero Regional Hospital is able to provide appointments with psychiatrists each week to our patients and reduce costly, time consuming commutes for them,” said Lynn Falcone, CEO of Cuero Health. “The initial patient feedback has been very positive, letting us know they are thankful to have this service and technology in our community,” said Falcone.
Access Physicians is a multispecialty physician group that combines clinical workflows, peer-referenced specialists, and a world-class telemedicine experience supported with a clinical sense of urgency. Current clients include Fortune 500 healthcare enterprises, independent rural and community hospitals, regional hospital networks, and the nation's first and largest operator of micro-hospitals. The company has also received exclusive endorsements, including being the first telemedicine company to be endorsed by a hospital association. The Texas Hospital Association, the second largest in the country representing 8 percent of U.S. hospitals, named Access Physicians as an endorsed partner for telemedicine needs in 2019, followed by the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals.
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ABOUT ACCESS PHYSICIANS
Access Physicians is the leading multispecialty physician group committed to clinical excellence through telemedicine. Founded by physicians, the company is one of the largest providers of acute subspecialty telemedicine, deployed at 153 hospitals in 18 states, providing care for more than 1.3 million high-acuity patients in some of the hardest-to-serve healthcare environments. Core clinical service lines include Pulmonary & Critical Care, Acute Stroke & General Neurology, Hospitalist Medicine, Cardiology, Infectious Disease & Antibiotic Stewardship, and Maternal Fetal Medicine. Learn more at accessphysicians.com or call 972/449-0540.
ABOUT CUERO REGIONAL HOSPITAL
Founded in 1892, Cuero Regional Hospital is a 49-bed hospital serving the citizens of Cuero, Goliad, Kenedy, Nixon, Westhoff, Yoakum, Yorktown and all rural communities that lie between. Cuero Regional is a Level IV designated trauma center.
Media Contacts
Lance Lunsford
lance.lunsford@accessphysicians.com
Emily Weatherly