Kelly Harris Shares How Health Systems Can Implement Mobile Care Units for Dermatology

Kelly Harris, APRN, an advanced practice registered nurse at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, discusses how mobile care units can bring dermatology care and education to members of underserved communities and how heath systems can better implement them into practice.

Harris presented at the Society for Pediatric Dermatology annual conference in Toronto, Canada in a session for advanced providers entitled, "Improving access to healthcare in an underserved population utilizing a mobile care unit."

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Transcript

In what ways can mobile care units be integrated with existing health care infrastructure to maximize their impact on community health?

Many mobile health care centers are already affiliated with hospitals, like public health departments and different institutions. It's a great way for these places to get their names out there, to really serve their communities better, and to meet the needs of their communities.

How can health care providers and policymakers collaborate to ensure sustainable funding and support for mobile care units serving underserved communities?

A lot of the funding for the mobile care centers [is] from grants and from donations from hospital donors and private donors. The mobile care centers are also very influential in decreasing hospital length of stays, reducing [emergency department] visits, allowing for better control of chronic diseases. So really showing that and proving to the policymakers how effective the mobile care centers are is a very good way to continue to have their support, as well as sharing patient feedback, as the majority of patients that are utilizing these find them to be very helpful and are very happy with utilizing them.

What strategies can be implemented to increase awareness and utilization of mobile care unit services among underserved populations?

Social media is a really great way to get the information out there, to say we know when they're going to be coming to the communities and where they will be. You can also post this at local churches, local businesses, so that people in the community can see when they're going to be coming, as well as word of mouth. As patients start to utilize it more, then they share with their friends, they share with their families that the centers are there, and that's a really popular way that people are finding out about it and utilizing them.

How can mobile care units adapt their services to meet the evolving health care needs of underserved populations, especially in response to public health crises or emergencies?

Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, our mobile care unit went out and did testing, like COVID testing. We go to a lot of health fairs and different events like that just to get our services out there. The dermatology department specifically went to a health fair and provided free skin checks to help with some screening to get early intervention started for patients, which was really, really helpful.

How can mobile care units address cultural and linguistic barriers to ensure equitable health care delivery in diverse communities?

Ours has an iPad that has our interpreter services available for us to utilize. I know I was at a conference and there were other ones that use Google Translate and just had to rely on some of the other resources available. You can also have people from the community, family members, come and help.