Bee Busy Wellness Center’s makeshift telehealth was OK, but now it’s building something grand. Bee Busy Wellness Center in Houston, Texas, like other health centers across the country, struggled with efforts to offer telehealth services to patients when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
As a way to be creative and to extend its healthcare program to those seeking services via telehealth, Bee Busy purchased mobile phones for clinical staff and iPads for providers to engage with patients who had iOS or Android systems, but failed in attempts at expanding its EHR to be compatible to offer telehealth.
So providers engaged with patients via mobile phones, on iPads and on laptop computers to address their healthcare issues. Patients engaged with their providers from the comfort of their own homes, while waiting for the opportunity to have face-to-face visits. Patients did visit the health center to access labs; however, they did not visit their provider in person in an effort to ensure their safety.
“Bee Busy Wellness Center provides services to patients who are immunocompromised,” said Norman Mitchell, CEO of Bee Busy Wellness Center. “The telehealth services were not sufficient as they didn’t allow communication with the company’s EHR, and were not adequate to offer as much continuity of care.”
Bee Busy targets the following areas: Southwest and Southeast Houston, Prairie View, Waller County, Montgomery County and the Clear Lake Area. The targeted population includes individuals living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, homeless people, and those with limited or no access to the Internet.