Jefferson Hospital Lets You See Your Doctor From The Comfort Of Home
by Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The forecast leading up to the snowstorm had many people canceling plans -- including doctor's appointments.
No trouble for some patients, though, who can be seen by their physicians from the comfort of their home.
Busy day at Jefferson Hospital -- so where is everybody?
"There are numerous cancellations for patients who can't make it downtown," says Dr. Judd Hollander.
But the appointments are still on, he says, thanks to video visits.
"It's a medically appropriate, secure, protected line that is effectively otherwise like Skype or FaceTime," Dr. Hollander explained.
Jefferson physicians, PAs, and nurse practitioners -- "close to 2000 providers" -- are trained to do video visits, but what about the patients?
"If you have ever downloaded an app to your phone and made it work, it's no harder than that," said Dr. Hollander.
It's called JeffConnect: it works with Apple and Android phones and tablets, and on computers with webcams.
The hospital also offers this virtual connection to its emergency docs, on-demand and around the clock.
