Kelly Pollard
Registered Nurse
BayCare
Launching a Telehealth Program in a Pandemic
When COVID-19 brought unforeseen challenges, hospitals had to rapidly change how they operated in order to keep both patients and staff safe. Plus, they needed a way to continue to care for patients who were not impacted by COVID-19, but were still unable to come into the hospital. At BayCare Health System in Florida, a lot of the work that went into solving those issues can be attributed to Kelly Pollard, RN as she paved the pathway for telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM).
In partnership with Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), Kelly and her team implemented HRS’ all-in-one RPM solution in 10 different offices virtually in hopes of presenting a new way of life for her patients while also keeping safety top of mind. Kelly found that with this solution, BayCare was able to do more than simply track vitals and record metrics, but gain full visibility into a patient’s care plan without having to be physically present.
Within six short months of implementation, BayCare received top notch adherence and patient satisfaction scores. But according to Kelly, patients also enjoyed it because it was often the only form of interaction they were getting. “I remember one patient didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Before you know it, she wanted to do it more often so she could talk to us. We became a part of their family where they wanted to see us every day.”
Today, BayCare has successfully scaled their program by adding over 400 remote patient monitoring devices for patients suffering from chronic diseases and COVID-19. Looking beyond COVID-19 patients, Kelly has plans to expand the program to other high-acuity patients such as those with CHF and COPD as well as other areas including pediatric, post open heart, and speech therapy. She also intends to launch a “Hospital at Home” program this upcoming quarter.
“Kelly is one of the most passionate nurses I have had the privilege of working with and truly does not have an end in sight,” says Will Ashton from the HRS Client Success team. “There is always something new on her to-do list.”
