Award-Winning Occupational Exposure Hotline Goes National
Miami, FL June 1, 2009 – FONEMED and Florida Hospital’s Centra Care announced today that they are now offering their highly successful Occupational Exposure Hotline to organizations employing healthcare workers, first responders and other at-risk groups throughout the US and Canada. The program has been serving nearly a half million Florida firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, dentists, prison guards and various municipal employee groups for over a decade. In 2008 the Exposure Hotline won an award from URAC’s national accreditation commission for Best Practices in Patient Safety.
Supported by Florida Hospital Medical Specialists, FONEMED is deploying specially-trained Registered Nurses throughout the US to respond by telephone to members exposed to Blood and Body Fluids, Communicable Diseases and unusual substances. The 24/7 Exposure Hotline uses advanced technology and CDC Protocols, allowing the nurses to provide a single point of contact for assessing exposure risks, providing recommendations for follow up care and documenting urgent situations.
Michael Stringfellow, a full time paramedic with a large fire department in Texas, provided a typical reaction to the service: “Our members face daily the possibility of puncture wounds, infected persons and potentially toxic substances. Waiting, or even a trip to an emergency room, frequently is not an option. We need to talk to a medical professional immediately with all the tools at hand to get us to the right preventative care, document the source of the exposure and advise us on an appropriate response to the particular circumstance. In my opinion an Exposure program of this caliber is an invaluable asset.”
About FONEMED
FONEMED® uses communications technology to provide individuals with round-the-clock, telephone or web-based access to medical advice, information, products and services. It provides outsourced services from its health information call center, accredited by URAC. It also supplies the tools, technology, and know-how to operate proprietary Health Information Centers as installed or hosted systems. FONEMED’s medical and information technology staff designed its new web-based operating platform specifically to support a broad range of interrelated medical activities such as the Exposure Hotline. FONEMED’s website can be found at www.fonemed.com.
About Centra Care/Florida Hospital Urgent Care
For 25 years, Centra Care has provided adults and children preeminent medical care for non-life threatening illness and injury. Each of the 18 Central Florida locations is staffed by a Florida Hospital, board-certified physician and is equipped to handle X-Rays and labs on-site. Centra Care is Florida’s largest urgent care provider and Central Florida’s only urgent care facility backed by a nationally recognized health care system. For more information visit www.centracare.org.
