Ok, so enough background information, what exactly is rtNOW?  rtNOW is a respiratory therapy telehealth solution.  It allows hospital staff to connect with an experienced respiratory therapist 24/7/365.  It is especially beneficial for rural hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that may not have access to respiratory therapists, or are in danger of “burning out” their current RT.

rtNOW consists of:

• An iPad.
  • This resides at a client facility, which may be a hospital or skilled nursing facility.
  • It is on a rolling, medical-grade stand.
  • It is usually at the nurses station.  Staff will bring it to a patient room before making a call.
• An app.
  • Proprietary, HIPAA compliant video chat application which is installed on the facility iPad.
• Web pages or websites for our rtNOW agents:
  • • A “password page” with relevant passwords for resources our rtNOW agents need access to.
    • A “Dashboard” with relevant information on our client locations including equipment on site, protocols, and contact information.
    • A web portal for the rtNOW app.
  • • • Used to self-schedule shifts.
      • Used to receive video chats.
      • Used to send an assessment form.
    • A “call tracking” page.
      • Used to get paid for calls taken.

The Process:

1. Currently, a staff member at a client facility will first perform a phone call before a video chat is initiated.
2. The phone call is automatically routed to an rtNOW agent scheduled to be on-duty who is licensed in the appropriate state.  The agent fields the phone call, and determines if a video chat is necessary, or assists over the phone if it is not.  Video chats happen no more than 5 minutes after the initial call.
3. rtNOW agents will check the “Dashboard” to see if/how the particular client allows access to an EMR, if a VPN is needed, and any additional relevant information.
4. If a video chat is needed, the rtNOW agent schedules a video chat with the staff member.  It is very important that this is done within 5 minutes of the initial call, and whenever possible the rtNOW agent stays on the phone call until they direct the staff member to initiate a video chat.  It is also very important it is done from a HIPAA compliant location.  More on that later.
5. Once in front of the rtNOW web portal, the rtNOW agent instructs the staff to make sure the rtNOW app is on, and then to click the “start call” button on the iPad.  This initiates the video chat.
6. The rtNOW agent has a session over video chat with the staff and instructs the client to hang up when done.
7. The rtNOW agent enters data into the EMR (if applicable) per the Dashboard instructions.
8. The rtNOW agent re-enters the data into the rtNOW assessment form in the rtNOW App and sends it.  This sends a fax backup of the assessment to the facility, and allows us to capture some non-PHI data.
9. The agent then make sure the web portal is “clear” by clearing out all notifications, and ready to accept another call.
10. The rtNOW agent files a “Call Tracking” form from a webpage for each initial call (not for follow-up calls) to receive a bonus.  Please note bonuses are not paid for follow up visits, nor for random rtNOW quality assurance calls.