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Virtual Critical Care: A Lifeline for Rural Hospitals and Patients

Find out how Augusta University Health’s telemedicine program enables 24/7COVID-19 and chronic care consults for rural hospitals.

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As COVID-19 began to hit the region in early March 2020, AU Health was able to pivot quickly, first by converting the direct-to-consumer program — which uses Amwell’s Urgent Care Module — into a COVID-19 virtual screening clinic. From March 13 to June 13, 2020, AU Health conducted more than 25,000 virtual screenings, or about 275 per day, and referred 15,000 patients for in-person COVID-19 testing, according to Lauren Williams Hopkins, AU Health’s director of population health and virtual care.