W H AT ’ S N E W ?
McLeod partnership Thanks to longstanding relationships with our sister pediatric hospitals, Prisma Health Children’s Hospital– Midlands has partnered with McLeod Children’s Hospital to support its inpatient services by offering telemedicine consultation and care in certain specialties. At the request of our McLeod colleagues, we now provide subspecialty telemedicine consultations in pulmonology, nephrology, hematology and neurology. Under this collaboration, McLeod’s hospitalists, intensivists and neonatologists may contact our physicians in those areas. This often takes the form of reviewing tests and labs of patients, imaging studies, and medical notes.
April Hobbs, MD, MS, recently joined Pediatric Neurology as a general pediatrician. Pediatric Neurology is one of the areas providing consults as needed for McLeod’s Children’s Hospital.
If deemed helpful or appropriate, the subspecialists may initiate a virtual visit with the patient and family. Most often, these consultations are reviewing the management and treatment plan that McLeod physicians and Prisma Health pediatric subspecialists have developed together. The telehealth visit allows the subspecialists to see the patient and answer questions from parents and caregivers; many times, it leads to establishing a relationship for future follow-up visits. The partnership also includes support such as reading and interpreting EEGs, PFTs, and other studies, then providing suggested medical management. Recently, this program has been expanded to include Cardiology when McLeod pediatric cardiologists are unavailable. Augmenting this inpatient consultation partnership is the existence of subspecialty satellite clinics in Florence. This allows some patients from the Pee Dee to have follow-up visits after hospitalization in Florence, negating the need
to travel to Columbia. These clinics also let patients who do not need hospitalization – but do need subspecialty care – to receive care locally. Under discussion is adding Infectious Diseases to assist with antibiotic stewardship development and support consultation. There is a national shortage of pediatric subspecialists. Prisma Health is helping to bridge that gap by sharing resources and expertise as well as by collaborating on the delivery of quality clinical services. Pediatric consults are available in: • Cardiology (in special circumstances) • Hematology • Nephrology • Neurology • Pulmonology • Infectious Diseases (pending)
Part of our Children’s Service Line mission is to partner with others in the state who provide care and services to children in and outside the markets we primarily serve. 7
