The medical industry has made many amazing strides with the use of technology, and now technology is being used to grant greater access to healthcare services and bypass long waits and burdensome traffic and commuting issues.
For Dr. Ivorique Turner, a Nocatee resident and CEO/medical director of eMDnow, helping military veterans in the process is an added bonus. Turner is a board-certified family medicine physician and a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. She previously served as assistant chief medical officer of the Jacksonville VA Outpatient Clinics, but she left the position in May 2018 in the hopes of finding a more efficient way to serve veterans when it comes to healthcare. Turner said the VA clinics do the best they can with what they have, but, oftentimes, veterans fall through the cracks when it comes to their healthcare needs.
“It was disheartening to see how we really aren’t able to move the mark as far as veteran access is concerned,” Turner said.
Dr. Turner said while those at the VA work hard to help veterans, it is also woefully understaffed, which puts a greater burden not only on the system, but the veterans who depend on its services.
“The VA itself, nationwide, is approximately 50,000 employees short,” she said. “Critical positions are not being filled right now.”
To help fill the gap left by an overburdened system, Dr. Turner and her husband, Dexter Turner, created eMDnow. Veterans aren’t the only ones who can benefit from eMDnow, but Turner said for her and Dexter, a former biomedical engineer for the VA, it was working with veterans in the VA system that really inspired them to create the on-demand service.
The Turners wanted to give veterans a way to faster address less serious medical issues that might necessitate a trip to a walk-in clinic or the need for medication, but without the long waits and red tape. She said the VA doesn’t have an adequate walk-in system in place and veterans are not guaranteed an appointment if they do walk in. If they do get an appointment, it could be days or weeks down the road, and some veterans, depending on circumstances, may not even qualify for the VA services.
Because of those factors, the Turners thought veterans would be great candidates for telemedicine services, which brings doctors to patients rather than the other way around.
“We just thought this was a more unique approach,” Turner said.
eMDnow is based on the principles of telemedicine and is part of the greater telehealth system, which is the ability to receive care remotely. It allows physicians to conduct clinical evaluations of patients online through use of a video monitor. Turner said the system is set up safely and securely, so the patient’s privacy is protected, and eMDNow even has an app that can be downloaded on Apple or Android devices for easier access.
“It’s a perfect venue for seeing more patients that I could normally,” she said.
Telemedicine also allows Turner to refill prescriptions remotely so patients don’t have to wait hours at a facility and can have access to medication and prescription refills from wherever they are.
“Through telemedicine, I can reach veterans all over Florida,” Turner said. “We’re able to go where the veterans are.”
For those not ready to embrace the technology, the Turners have also opened a physical location at 3416 Moncrief Road in Jacksonville and are opening another location in Ponte Vedra Beach on May 1.
The Ponte Vedra Beach clinic is located at 1106 A1A N., Suite 100-A, and offers other benefits as well as the telemedicine. The clinic will provide direct primary care, veterans services including disability exams, women’s services, prescription refills and vaccinations. The facility is also offering membership-based primary care, which allows for a certain number of visits per year, vaccinations, lab work and more, and doesn’t require insurance.
Turner said telemedicine is the direction the medical field is going as people seek more convenient ways of doing things and simplifying their daily lives.
“We have to be able to think outside the box,” she said. “People are more tech-savvy, they’re more often on the move and to not have to go and sit in a doctor’s office is very valuable.”
The main benefit of the services eMDnow provides is universal, whether veteran or not, and puts the focus of healthcare where it needs to be.
“My goal was to change the way we think about medicine and being able to better meet the needs of the patient,” Turner said.
For more information on eMDnow, visit www.myemdnow.com, call 1-800-511-0497 or check it out on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @eMDnow.
