Seeing your GP when you are sick is like winning the lottery—most people find that they can’t get appointments until after they have already recovered. Now, employees of Cuyahoga County, Ohio have an alternative to urgent care: an initiative called HealthSpot. The county has decided to take advantage of the growing mHealth industry by providing its employees with the ability to video conference with a doctor from their Justice Center. Unlike such solutions that are home-based, patients are able to provide their doctors with more detailed information that they need to properly diagnose them: the kiosks are equipped with thermometers, stethoscopes, and blood pressure cuffs.
According to Brie Zeltner of The Plain Dealer, doctors are even able to write prescriptions to patients who use the kiosks for consultations. Elise Hara told Brian Heaton, of Government Technology, that this technology will help reduce cost attrition that results from employees using too much sick time. Heaton described the problem Hara presented, “Oftentimes, workers go home sick one day and then are out subsequent days waiting for a doctor’s appointment or to get a prescription for whatever was ailing them.” Instead of losing half a day of work for a doctor’s appointment, employees will now be able to get their health needs addressed in 20 minutes. Heaton adds that the kiosks will be open on weekdays from 12 PM through 4:30 PM.
In a statement announcing the first-of-its-kind technology, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald notes that Cuyahoga County is “committed to promoting good health” and that one of his top priorities as a county executive is to “embrace a health and wellness culture that mirrors the excellence of our major medical institutions.” He noted that improving health would improve the county’s productivity and performance.
Edited by
Ryan Sartor
