MedStar Telehealth Services…quality healthcare (Trinidad & Tobago)

Now available in Trinidad and Tobago, MedStar is a telephone based nurse advice helpline and health information centre, manned by Registered Nurses in Canada 24 hours a day, every day.

MedStar is a partnership between FONEMED LLC of America and Protected content of Trinidad and Tobago. FONEMED LLC is internationally accredited by the American Accreditation Healthcare Commission as a Health Information Centre (HIC), providing healthcare to 1.2 million customers worldwide, with established operations in Venezuela, Colombia, Canada, Greece, Panama, and Brazil. FONEMED has now adapted these advanced technologies to the unique medical environment of the Caribbean through Protected content .

How MedStar Works:
MedStar members have access to trained Registered Nurses based in Canada with over 10 years average experience who will assist them in choosing the most appropriate care, taking every opportunity to educate individuals on how to care for themselves now and in the future. The nurses are available via a toll-free number, Protected content Protected content a day, Protected content a year. MedStar’s nurses use custom-designed triage software, and protocols designed by Dr. Barton Schmitt and Dr. David Thompson, leading experts on adult and pediatric medicine. These protocols have become standards of care for telephone triage in the United States and internationally and have successfully handled over Protected content calls in Europe, the USA and Canada. Each protocol is put through an exhaustive testing and review process that includes call centre medical directors, telephone triage nurses, emergency physicians, primary care physicians, physician sub- specialists, and behavioural health experts.

MedStar’s nurse advice begins when a call comes into MedStar’s Call Centre on Protected content Protected content . If callers have an urgent (but non-emergency) medical situation, the nurse will talk with the caller and work through the caller’s symptoms using computerized medical protocols and will recommend care advice to the caller. Members are free to call as often as they like for basic health information or to ask about specific symptoms.

Answers to specific questions may lead to:

* Guidance about self treatment at home
* Immediate or scheduled visits to your physician’s office
* Emergency treatment
* Information about your health concerns

MedStar does not place callers on hold. We take calls live when possible, but operate via call-back for other calls. This means that if all of our nurses are speaking with callers, your patients will not be waiting on hold. Instead, we will have a live operator take the caller’s pertinent information, and the next available nurse will call the patient back. This system also allows us to prioritize calls, so that potentially medically emergent calls will be returned before others.

MedStar Health Information Library:
The MedStar Health Information Library is a comprehensive library of recorded health information, available to members over the phone. When callers need basic health information, they can always call and talk with one of our Registered Nurses. If they would prefer to listen to a recorded topic, they can ask to be transferred to the Health Information Library.

MedStar’s Internet-based health information includes webcasts and articles on common health concerns, as well as the text of all 2,200 Health Information Library topics.

The service is easy to use and available to you 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, free of charge as a member. The general categories of information available to you include:

Aches and Pains Protected content and Fitness
Aging Protected content Diseases
Allergies Protected content
Arthritis Protected content Health
Cancer Protected content
Cardiovascular Protected content Health
Child Care Protected content Health
Dental Health Protected content Control

MedStar Services:

Physician Answering Service
MedStar offers a fully outsourced solution to handle physicians’ after-hour calls. Calls coming in to a physician’s office are seamlessly routed to our call center. Whether the caller needs information, wants to make an appointment or requires medical assistance, our professionals handle every call according to the physician’s specifications. We act as an extension of the physician practice – not a replacement.

Inbound/Outbound Calling
MedStar can also handle inbound or outbound calling in conjunction with client marketing campaigns, wellness programs, health risk assessment follow-ups, program registrations, class sign-ups or other services as required. MedStar uses either Registered Nurses or professional Health Service Representatives for these call center activities. This provides the client with an economical means of assuring that an appropriately qualified health professional handles each of his inbound or outbound calls.

Reporting
MedStar provides clients with aggregated utilization reports on a regular basis, the timing depending on the size of the client and the number of calls received monthly. In general, clients with under 25 calls per month will receive semi-annual reports, those with between 25 and Protected content per month will receive quarterly reporting, and those with more than Protected content per month will receive monthly reporting. More frequent, or individualized reporting, is available upon request. The reports contain usage statistics by month, day, hour, and age of caller, and compare callers’ final dispositions to their initial inclinations.

Other Services
MedStar has extensive in-house capabilities, and maintains relationships with numerous heath-related organizations. Whether you are interested in home health monitoring, referral, consulting or other services, we will work with you to design a program to meet your needs.

Membership Benefits
Healthcare Facts:
Approximately 40% of healthcare is simply an exchange of information between healthcare providers and patients

Over 50% of emergency department visits are non-urgent and could be treated in a lower cost setting

Over 40% of physicians visits could be handled by phone

MedStar Benefits
MedStar is an ideal addition to member benefits packages, as it is inexpensive yet has a high perceived value.
Now, you and your loved ones need no longer ignore symptoms or medical concerns, nor spend hours in emergency rooms unnecessarily. A simple toll free call to Protected content will provide the information you need to play a more active role in managing your own health and that of your household.

MedStar’s Telehealth services provide the following benefits:

Round-the-clock advice on self care or homecare, or referral to the doctor or emergency room, whichever is appropriate

Nurse advice available anywhere in the English-speaking Caribbean

Peace of mind and reduced anxiety by preventing worry on how to respond to a health concern

Reduced “out of pocket” expenses

Unnecessary visits to the GP or Emergency Room

Discounts nationwide at Pharmacies, Medical centres, GP’s, Fitness Centres, and much more.

No medical screening or pre-qualification criteria

Insurance benefits

The World Health Organization recognizes the development Medical Call Centres

MedStar’s nurse advice begins when a call comes into MedStar’s Call Centre on Protected content Protected content . If callers have an urgent (but non-emergency) medical situation, the nurse will talk with the caller and work through the caller’s symptoms using computerized medical protocols and will recommend care advice to the caller. Members are free to call as often as they like for basic health information or to ask about specific symptoms.

Call to sign up: Protected content Protected content
Visit 800STAR website: Protected content
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