Hi, I'm Dana Jay. And this is Henry Ford Health System News.
We bring you stories about how our team members are living our values of
compassion, innovation, respect, and results.
We're going to start this time with some new technology that's bringing Henry
Ford virtual visits to a whole new level.
Say ah!
Looking down a patient's throat isn't something Dr. Marjan Moghaddam
can typically do when she sees patients virtually,
but she can do that and more for the Flora family,
because they're using the brand new Henry Ford Virtual Exam Kit powered by
TytoCare. The handheld device connects through your smartphone.
Then through my chart.
The attachments allow the doctor to check your heart lungs,
throat, ears, abdomen, skin, and temperature,
making virtual exams for people of all ages that much better.
Take your kids. Earache. You can't move. Okay, honey. Okay.
We are able to see, is it red? Is there fluid in it?
Is it your infection versus at a wax buildup?
One device can be used on the whole family and you can use it on yourself.
We can then say, Hey, are you skipping a beat? Are we missing something?
Is it a slow heart rate? Do we send them to the ER versus, okay,
it's chest pain automatically got to go to the ER.
Henry Ford is averaging about 6,000 video visits a week so far this year.
They're here to stay even post pandemic.
The latest technology will give Henry Ford patients the most valuable experience
possible.
We're able to help patients a little bit to keep the cost of medicine down and
also keep them from going to facilities that they don't really need to.
Henry Ford is the only health system in Eastern Michigan using this technology.
It will be rolled out to patients in coming weeks,
but team members can buy a virtual exam kit now.
Go to One Henry and search Tyto, T Y T O.
The virtual exam kits cost $299.
You can use your HSA, FSA,
or credit card or pay via payroll deduction.
If you spread the payments out, they can be as small as $11.99 a month.
Now we want you to meet Audra Carlson, a patient transporter at Allegiance.
She's the first person at Henry Ford to be recognized with the Michigan Health
and Hospital Association's Keystone Center Speak Up Award.
I was so excited of course, um,
just to be able to have Henry Ford
Allegiance be highlighted in such great teamwork in all of our efforts
that we put into our patient care here at the hospital.
Audra tells me she was helping a patient and his wife leave the hospital when
she noticed him start slumping over in his wheelchair, she called for help.
The nurse that was taking care of him, explained to me, you know,
that he w he did seem tired,
but he was up walking for her, her shift and that,
you know, in her eyes that he was, you know, fine to proceed with the discharge.
And, um, you know, that she didn't need to come down to assess it.
She was confident that he was able to go home at that point.
But Audra knew something just wasn't right.
I was fighting with myself at that point because I respect all of our nurses
here and their clinical aspect of their patient,
especially that they spend such a bulk of time with them,
not only physically, but also within their charts.
So I wasn't trying to second guess her or become
disrespectful, but I knew inside that this patient was not going home.
After Audra called the nurse a second time, she called her own supervisor too.
She wanted to make sure someone took another look at the patient.
And because Audra was so persistent, the patient got the care he needed.
Were you nervous when you were having to make that.
Extra phone call? Personally, no. That wasn't making me nervous at all.
Um,
I feel very comfortable within this organization to advocate for
our patients and therefore it didn't matter to me at that point,
how many phone calls had to be made. Um,
they had to be made in someone needed to be down there.
And Audra tells me that's what she really wants you to understand:
that she wouldn't have received this award.
If she didn't work in a place that valued the contributions of everybody on the
team.
Henry Ford is finding as many ways as possible to get COVID-19 vaccines
to our community.
In some cases that means loading up mobile health units,
nicknamed vaccine vans and taking the shots to the people.
Henry Ford's Global Health Initiative and community health workers
visit six sites across Southeast Michigan each week,
including the community center in Oak Park. We can't rely on just.
People coming to Henry Ford Hospital or one of our clinics.
We need to really bring the vaccine to where people are. Yeah.
I don't know if you can see my feet,
but I am doing the happy dance here today because we are opening this up to
letting our, uh, residents get.
Vaccinated. Oak Park was a hotspot at the beginning of the pandemic.
As of the second week in March,
the team with the mobile vaccine units was delivering about 2000
shots a week. As supply increases so will the number of shots.
Don't forget,
March 31st is the deadline for completing your Thrive Rewards personal health
assessment.
Dr. Peter Watson explains it's an important tool for understanding your
overall wellbeing.
For those of us who are already healthy,
it gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves those questions about the things we
want to keep doing well. For some of us, it may be that we're overall healthy,
but we may have a few areas where we could improve. And then finally, there,
there may be some of us that have chronic conditions,
things that we have to get under better control.
We may have more urgent risks and doing that assessment house helps us
understand where are the opportunities and how can we have that conversation
with our physicians so we can get back on the right track.
This year, the deadline for the initial health assessment has been moved up.
So don't let it pass you by. It's voluntary,
but there are incentives for completing all the requirements.
They include a discount on your HAP health insurance if you get it through Henry
Ford. And back again this year cash and car prize drawings.
Finally, our featured photo. This one comes from our team in Macomb County.
They worked with the Chaldean Community Foundation to organize a town hall and
answer questions about the COVID 19 vaccine.
The panel included Henry Ford pharmacist Albert Bajjoka there on the right,
who worked hard to translate the presentation into Chaldean.
If you see Albert at Macomb, give him a high five.
Don't forget to send us your photos and story ideas.
The email addresses news tips@hhs.org.
Thanks for watching. And I'll see you around.