It’s estimated that roughly one in five people live in rural America, that number is even higher in our region. So how do health care systems ensure that rural patients have access to the medical care they need? One way is by bringing care directly to rural communities.
Checkups with a cardiac specialist are just part of Eleanor Hewitt’s routine. These check ins occur every three to four months to help make sure Eleanor is living her best life, despite her high blood pressure.
“To get my meds adjusted, that has helped a lot and just to keep track to make sure things aren’t changing,” said Hewitt.
“We follow their chronic problems along, make sure the medications are titrated appropriately, make sure that they don’t need any refills, make sure they not having any issues, explore their symptoms and just offer any other kind of help that we can give to them,” said Sherrie Brooks, DO, FACC, a cardiologist with North Central Heart.
Bringing Care Closer to Home
It all may seem pretty standard stuff, but what makes this appointment special for patients like Eleanor, is that her specialist team comes to her.
“I mean that’s the nice thing about outreach is the patients are able to get the high-quality care that they need in an area that is close to their home or near their home. That’s what’s really great about having North Central Heart collaborate with programs where we’re trying to establish outreach in, specifically the one that we have at Marshall,” said Dr. Brooks.
“Takes a lot of stress off because my kids are in Colorado, my only grandson is in Pennsylvania. If I had to go to Sioux Falls to see somebody, I’d have to find a driver cause I can drive to Marshall fine, but I don’t drive in the city! So, yeah, it takes a lot of stress off people (for them) to come here,” said Hewitt.
Cardiac Collaboration
Most cardiac outreach patients will have an initial appointment in Sioux Falls and continue follow-up care in their region. Cardiac specialists like Dr. Brooks dedicate a few days each month to travel and work alongside specially trained cardiac physician assistants in the regional facilities.
“We collaborate on medication, we collaborate on strategies in terms of how to treat patients and what to treat them for,” said Dr. Brooks.
“They feel confident in knowing that I can reach out to their cardiologist or any of those providers with questions or if we want to tweak something or closing the loop on communication questions,” said Kilee Tauer, PA-C, a physician's assistant and cardiology specialist at Avera Marshall.
“Having Kilee here, we can start to combat that gap in health care,” said Dr. Brooks.
Aside from the shorter drive with less traffic, Eleanor says it’s the face-to-face interaction that helps put her mind and heart at ease. “Maybe just confidence. The last time I saw her I had an issue and she was extremely caring and concerned and spent a lot of extra time making sure I was OK and that just makes me feel better.”
Heart disease is the number one killer of women and is often times misdiagnosed or under-treated. Cardiac outreach programs like the one offered by North Central Heart and Avera Heart Hospital help doctors reach the rural communities that are at an even higher risk for heart disease. Avera offers outreach to hundreds of locations with specialists in specialties ranging from infectious disease to pediatrics.
Learn more about heart specialty care at Avera.
