MONROE - The Monroe Clinic Hospital is endeavoring to do more preventative care by calling patients and interviewing them about their health.
In an effort to take on more preventative care, MCH started doing patient outreach following ER visits in December. Director of Primary Care and Emergency Services Patrick Loney is in charge of making sure patients are receiving follow-up from their primary care doctors at all of MCH's branches. Loney said they hope to increase calls for patients who may not regularly come in for check-ups.
"We will be including diabetes patients, colonoscopies and other cancer screenings. ... The ultimate goal is to catch these symptoms and save lives," Loney said.
The calls don't cost patients anything and can help them schedule repeat visits if they have a health problem.
Elanor Ringdahl, 77, Wiota, took a nasty fall on Jan. 13 and fractured bones in her face and had to be rushed to the ER at MCH. Ringdahl said the next day her primary care doctor in Wiota called and set up an appointment for physical therapy.
"It's great; it's really reassuring to think they really care about you and it's not just a business," Ringdahl said.
Making these calls can be a drain on nurses and doctors who are already strained for time, but Loney said none have complained because this is why they started in health care.
"It's about saving people's lives, not trying to scrape a few extra bucks in," Loney said.
He said nurses and other staff have come to him hoping to sign up and start in this program to help make preventative care a chief concern.
"We always talked about it in school, but now we are really doing it," Loney said.
Ringdahl said she was warned at the ER that she would be receiving a call from her doctor, David Johnson. Ringdahl said she probably would have kept up and gone to her doctor for repeat visits regardless, but to know that health care workers were in fact caring for her health made the process all the better.
"It was a nurse that called me; I know her and she knows me. ... And I just really appreciate it," Ringdahl said.
In an effort to take on more preventative care, MCH started doing patient outreach following ER visits in December. Director of Primary Care and Emergency Services Patrick Loney is in charge of making sure patients are receiving follow-up from their primary care doctors at all of MCH's branches. Loney said they hope to increase calls for patients who may not regularly come in for check-ups.
"We will be including diabetes patients, colonoscopies and other cancer screenings. ... The ultimate goal is to catch these symptoms and save lives," Loney said.
The calls don't cost patients anything and can help them schedule repeat visits if they have a health problem.
Elanor Ringdahl, 77, Wiota, took a nasty fall on Jan. 13 and fractured bones in her face and had to be rushed to the ER at MCH. Ringdahl said the next day her primary care doctor in Wiota called and set up an appointment for physical therapy.
"It's great; it's really reassuring to think they really care about you and it's not just a business," Ringdahl said.
Making these calls can be a drain on nurses and doctors who are already strained for time, but Loney said none have complained because this is why they started in health care.
"It's about saving people's lives, not trying to scrape a few extra bucks in," Loney said.
He said nurses and other staff have come to him hoping to sign up and start in this program to help make preventative care a chief concern.
"We always talked about it in school, but now we are really doing it," Loney said.
Ringdahl said she was warned at the ER that she would be receiving a call from her doctor, David Johnson. Ringdahl said she probably would have kept up and gone to her doctor for repeat visits regardless, but to know that health care workers were in fact caring for her health made the process all the better.
"It was a nurse that called me; I know her and she knows me. ... And I just really appreciate it," Ringdahl said.