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Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) has received a $ 38,000 grant from the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation to pilot the hospital’s OB Connect program, which gives patients the flexibility to do prenatal care from home receive.
The initiative “represents a new age in medicine where we are using technology to make care more convenient for patients while giving them better access to their healthcare providers,” said Amanda Rohn, MD, of the VHC Medical Group.
“Just as people have become used to tracking their health with watches and other wearable devices, our patients have easy-to-use home monitors to keep their gynecologist informed of their vital signs,” said Rohn.
Instead of going to the practice for each appointment, OB Connect patients set up some remote appointments via secure video. The program provides participants with devices to check their baby’s heart rate and their own blood pressure; Patients then report these readings to their nursing staff two days before each appointment.
The OB Connect program “is a critical step in the movement for accessible prenatal care for vulnerable mothers,” said Neal Lawson, founder and chairman of the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation.
“With virtual appointments, patients don’t have to take time off work, pay for childcare or parking, or rush to appointments,” he said. “We hope that by funding this program we can reduce the financial burdens and added stress that so often come with seeking care during pregnancy.”
Virginia Hospital Center is the first hospital in the region to offer such a service to patients. The program is now in full swing and recently welcomed the first new arrival of a mother enrolled in the program.