New Partnerships Connect School Nurses with Albany Med Expertise
Albany Med Urgent Care Clinicians Provide Care to Students via Telehealth
New partnerships between the Albany Med Health System and seven regional school districts allow students to receive treatment for common ailments through telehealth appointments from their school nurse’s office.
The participating nurses’ offices will be equipped with a handheld clinical device to examine ears, throat, and skin, and hear the student’s heart and lungs to evaluate for asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, cold, flu, ear and throat infections, conjunctivitis, and viruses. The information is shared in real time with the urgent care clinicians who can provide orders to the school nurse to test for Covid-19, influenza, or strep, and offer over-the-counter medications like Tylenol, ibuprofen, and Claritin. Parents have the option to join the appointment from their personal devices.
Starting with Canajoharie Central School District, the service will now be available beginning this school year in Broadalbin-Perth, Catskill, Germantown, Cairo-Durham, Northville, and Watervliet schools, with more anticipated. Parents can enroll their children through the school district.
“With this new program, a sick child can be evaluated by an urgent care provider with pediatric training to determine the best course of treatment right at school,” said Jacqueline Weaver, MD, emergency medicine physician. “By eliminating additional steps to care, we eliminate the need to miss school—minimizing disruptions for students and their parents.”
For example, if a student comes to the school nurse’s office with ear pain, the telehealth physician can determine if it’s a mild ear infection, give an order for the student to get pain relief and return to class—while their prescription is sent to their pharmacy for parents to pick up after school. If a student needs additional treatment, such as stitches, the information from their visit will immediately be available to the System’s physicians, including Urgent Care clinics, and all pre-visit information will be completed prior to their arrival at the Urgent Care site.
All System Urgent Cares are connected to the entire System’s resources, including the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital and Massry Family Children’s Emergency Center, both at Albany Medical Center. This allows for consultations with pediatric emergency medicine physicians, and referrals to more than 40 pediatric specialties.