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eNurse makes health information more accessible by Susan Kammeraad-Campbell Business Development and Marketing Communications Situation It’s the middle of the night. Your child wakes up with a fever of 103 degrees. You’re not sure what to do. Solution Call MUSC Health Connection at 792-1414 or 1 (800) 424-MUSC and use the Touch Tone Library or log on to http://www.MUSChealth.com for information. Situation Your father has just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. You want to know more. Solution Call MUSC Health Connection at 792-1414 or 1 (800) 424-MUSC—Talk to a Health Resource Nurse or use the Touch Tone Library or log on to http://www.MUSChealth.com for information or send a message to MUSC eNurse Situation You have a question you’d like answered, something private, but would rather not talk to anyone directly. Solution Call MUSC Health Connection at 792-1414 or 1 (800) 424-MUSC – Talk to a Health Resource Nurse or use the Touch Tone Library or Log on to http://www.MUSChealth.com for information or send a message to MUSC eNurse Last winter, Sharon Farber, a 55-year-old diabetic, started losing weight. A good thing in general, except that she wasn’t dieting. On top of that, she was experiencing pain. “I was desperate to know what was causing this and felt I needed to see a specialist,” she said. Mrs. Farber, a Goose Creek resident, began her search by logging on to MUSChealth.com, the health information Web site for the Medical University of South Carolina. “I found a lot of information there about hepatitis, diabetes and the complications that can occur. I felt like I was in good hands,” she said. During her search, Mrs. Farber discovered MUSC eNurse, an on-line communication link to health resource nurses who are specially trained to answer health care questions and help individuals find the right physician, if needed. Mrs. Farber wrote a message to eNurse expressing her concern about her unexplained weight loss, and indicating she had diabetes and hepatitis C. She heard back the next day and was scheduled to see Adrian Reuben, M.D., a liver specialist. Since then, she has contacted MUSC eNurse several times by e-mail regarding health questions. “Not only do they e-mail me back quick, they also call,” Mrs. Farber said. “It makes it so simple. And they are wonderful people.” “Trying to navigate a health care system, let alone trying to figure out what specialist you might need to see for a particular condition, can be complicated at best,” said Sandra DeAntonio, R.N., an MUSC health resource nurse for the past six years. “Our goal is to make it easier on people. It is such a pleasure to talk with people who are concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones.”  Health care resources at your fingertips If you want to schedule an appointment with a physician or if you have a health question, help is at your fingertips. You can call one number—MUSC Health Connection at 792-1414 or toll free at 1 (800) 424-MUSC—and find yourself connected to customer service representatives or health resource nurses who will see to it your questions are answered. Or log on to the Web site at MUSChealth.com and have access to more than 1,000 pages of general health information—everything from the common cold to heart transplantation. Kelly Roberts directed the establishment of the MUSC Web site in 1999, the first Web site in the area to offer comprehensive general health information. “It’s part of our mission to educate the public,” he said.  MUSC has taken that mission seriously by continuously expanding and refining the site. “We offer a number of interactive tools to help you assess your health,” Roberts said. For example, log on to MUSChealth.com and assess your risk of suffering a heart attack. It only takes a few minutes, and your confidential results will be tallied automatically.  In the near future, Roberts said, MUSC’s Web site will be a “one-stop place” for health care needs, from paying bills and scheduling appointments, to reviewing lab results and communicating with physicians. Quick reference information Call MUSC Health Connection at 792-1414 or 1 (800) 424-MUSC for immediate access to: Customer Service Representatives, available from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday, for appointment scheduling, class and community health event registration, screenings, appointments with MUSC’s primary care network. Health Resource Nurses, available from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday, are specially trained to answer a wide range of health questions and provide assistance with physician referrals. Health resource nurses can also be contacted through MUSChealth.com’s eNurse. Touch Tone Library, you can tap into more than 1,500 recorded messages focusing on adult and children’s health topics, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s quick, accurate and confidential. Listen to brief, taped discussions on topics of interest—from acne to yeast infections. Log on to http://www.MUSChealth.com for immediate access to: Find a Physician Health resources and publications Checkup Online MUSC eNurse Directions and maps to specific MUSC locations Editor's note: The article is reprinted from Checkup newsletter, produced by MUSC Business Development and Marketing Communications.