RVC's Mercy Hospital Expands Telemedicine For Expectant Moms

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital has expanded its telehealth services. The Rockville Centre hospital is now offering maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) care for high-risk expectant mothers, the hospital announced.

The telehealth option is part is of their Family Care Center, a full-service outpatient obstetrical and pediatric clinic that cares for approximately 9,000 patients yearly.

Thanks to a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, Mercy is able to increase health care access and offer virtual services to expectant mothers who are diagnosed with diabetes, chronic hypertension, and/or pre-eclampsia; in addition to mothers who need further genetic counseling.

"Historically, MFM programs have required in-person visits. But now, thanks to the support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, we are able to offer these critical and potentially lifesaving services to expectant mothers who often face health care barriers such as transportation during their pre-and-postpartum care," Dr. Baraa Allaf, MFM chair at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital said in a statement. "We are even more thrilled to offer these services at a time where fear fueled by the pandemic has also been keeping patients from continuing necessary care."

Expectant mothers receiving MFM services for the aforementioned conditions will receive Bluetooth-enabled devices, including a tablet with a camera, a blood pressure cuff and a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen levels.

MFM telehealth services began at Mercy in late March.

"Patients really enjoy using the added technology because they don’t have to travel and/or coordinate daycare — having access to the staff 24/7 is key," Suzanne Hrubes, a Catholic home care nurse working on the project, said via release.