PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Northern Light AR Gould Hospital is pleased to announce that it has centralized infusion services to one location to better meet the growing needs for outpatient infusions.
Infusion care is one of many ways that people who suffer from long term illnesses such as autoimmune disease can receive medication that helps manage their condition. While AR Gould Hospital has offered these services to patients, it was previously spread out through multiple areas in the hospital depending on the type of transfusion needed.
“Before we opened this center, we would have to offer infusions at different areas of the hospital where staff were trained to handle those types of infusions. For example, IV antibiotics would normally be done in an area off the Critical Care Unit. Meanwhile, therapeutic phlebotomy occurred in the day surgery area. Having this service in one location is more accessible to patients,” explains Daryl Boucher, vice president of operations.
“This new dedicated space is a big win for patients,” says Ashley St. Peter, infusion care manager. “It offers a comfortable, quiet, and relaxed setting for treatment. In a holistic approach to care, we strive to make patients feel safe and comfortable. Some infusions can take as long as six hours to complete, so it’s important for us to make sure patients have everything they need while they are here with us.”
The new infusion area is an open area with several infusion chairs and privacy screens for patients. Each sectioned area includes a chair for visitors and a television. There is also a private room available for patients, but St. Peter says that is mainly for patients who need peripherally inserted central catheter or midline insertions.
According to Infusion Center Nurse Practitioner Nicole Ouellette, ACNPC-AG, “It’s exciting to be able to offer PICC and midline insertions to patients in an outpatient setting. Sometimes, what prevents a patient going home from the hospital is that they need one of these special IV lines inserted to receive outpatient infusions. Patients can be scheduled to have their PICC line and first infusion scheduled on the same day, and allows them to go home sooner.”
Another advantage to a dedicated infusion space is the ability to better accommodate patient’s needs regarding scheduling.
“If a patient needs an infusion the next day when they are discharged from the hospital, we will work with the hospitalist and their provider to make sure that they can be seen in a timely manner,” St. Peter says. “We also work with patients around their infusion schedule. If they need an infusion or injection every other week for a chronic disease or illness, we will schedule them at a convenient time so they can receive the infusion care that they need.”
Centralized infusion care also provides a better workflow process for both patients and staff, with less confusion over where a patient is going to be treated, as well as a dedicated referral specialist to help ensure patients have the prior authorizations needed from their insurance.
AR Gould’s Infusion Care department is open daily from 7 a,m, to 7 p,m, by appointment only.
