Taylor Leddin-McMaster (Host): Hello, listeners. Thank you for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Taylor Leddin-McMaster. And joining me today is Lindsay Hoekstra, Director of Infusion Services at Riverside Healthcare, and she's here to talk about infusion services and Riverside's Ambulatory Infusion Center. Welcome.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Thank you, Taylor.

Host: Before we begin, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Riverside?

Lindsay Hoekstra: Yes. So, I've worked at Riverside as a nurse for almost 18 years now. I started with Riverside right out of nursing school in the emergency room. I most recently took the Director of Infusion Services in Rheumatology position. And in that position, I oversee outpatient infusion, home infusion, and the rheumatology specialist.

Host: Fantastic. Well, congratulations on the promotion. That's awesome.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Thank you.

Host: What exactly are infusion services and what conditions can be treated with infusion services?

Lindsay Hoekstra: Well, infusion therapy, sometimes people refer to it as IV therapy, is the process of delivering medications into the body either by injection or an IV. We provide therapies for several conditions, including many GI disorders such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, asthma, osteoporosis, chronic kidney disease, even migraines. We do treatment for anemia, many cardiac diseases, and even ophthalmic disorders.

Host: Wow. So, it runs quite a gamut.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Yes, yes. Wide variety of treatments.

Host: Yeah. What can you tell us about Riverside's Ambulatory Infusion Center?

Lindsay Hoekstra: So, the infusion center is definitely designed for the comfort and convenience of the patient. We have a team of expert infusion nurses and authorization staff. We accommodate the needs of patients that require very frequent treatment. Sometimes our patients will come multiple times a week, or we have other patients that we may only see once a year for treatment. We provide treatment for patients that are six months and older at the Kankakee location, and that is our main location. We're in the pavilion right across the street from the hospital, so we're on the third floor of that building. And we also have centers at Frankfurt, Watseka, and Coal City. Now, at those locations, they only see patients 18 and older.

Host: Gotcha. Okay, great. And what are some of the team roles that are involved in infusion services? You mentioned a couple of them, but a little more detail would be awesome.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Sure. Yeah. So, we have a very strong and experienced team at the infusion center. The patient's first encounter will be with our front desk team. They complete a benefits investigation upon receiving an order from your physician and get any authorizations from insurance if needed, so the patient doesn't have to worry about that all. Our team takes care of all that. Once benefits are verified, then they'll call and get you scheduled. We also have a team of highly trained nurses with specialized infusion experience to perform the therapies.

Host: Wonderful. Now, Riverside also offers home infusion and outpatient infusion that we were talking about before. What are the differences between the two?

Lindsay Hoekstra: So, home infusion provides therapy in the comfort and convenience of the patient's home. So, we partner with home healthcare and pharmacy to ensure the patient has all the supplies they need, and the home to provide that therapy. Outpatient infusion is a little bit more of a controlled setting for those more complex medications or even the complex patients that require a little bit more supervision. Sometimes that is dictated by insurance, whether you can do home or outpatient infusion.

Host: Okay. That makes sense. Well, great. Before we continue our conversation, we're going to take a moment to talk about the importance of primary care.

At Riverside, our primary care providers are right here in your community, offering personalized care for you and your family close to home, and connected to the specialists and services you may need. Having a primary care provider means having someone who knows you, listens to you, and helps you stay well through every stage of life, from annual checkups and preventative screenings to managing everyday concerns when they pop up, because remarkable care should never be out of reach. Remarkable care right where you live. To find a primary care provider who's right for you and your family, visit myrhc.net/acceptingnew.

All right. And we're back talking about infusion services. Now, how does the ambulatory infusion center work with other facets of Riverside?

Lindsay Hoekstra: So, we work with nearly every department of the Riverside organization. We work very closely with cardiology for patients that might have heart failure, to try to keep them out of the emergency room and the hospital. So oftentimes, we can provide that treatment on an outpatient basis preventing hospitalization. We also partner with OB to provide hydration for pregnant patients that are experiencing nausea and vomiting. And we care for patients of our senior life communities as well. Other departments we work with include neurology, primary care, pediatrics, and orthopedics.

Host: Wow. So again, quite a gamut.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Yes.

Host: And then, I know that the ambulatory infusion center works very closely with the Riverside Cancer Institute. What role does infusion play in cancer care?

Lindsay Hoekstra: We provide a lot of the supportive treatment for the cancer patients. We don't actually do any chemotherapy at our site, but we'll do blood and blood product transfusions and even hydration for those patients. So, the benefit of us is that we're connected to the hospital. So if a patient needs a blood transfusion that day, that's something we can accommodate.

We also provide supportive care to patients that have oncologists outside of the Riverside network, so we're able to work with their cancer doctors so they can get the treatment they need closer to home, instead of always driving up north for those therapies.

Host: Okay. That's wonderful. I know that several of our Cancer Institute locations offer ambulatory infusion on site. What does that relationship look like?

Lindsay Hoekstra: Yeah. So, our Frankfurt, Watseka, and Coal City locations do also offer infusion therapy. So when we receive an order for a patient, we often look at where they're located and which location would be most convenient for them. Ultimately, it's up to the patient which location they would like to come to. But that is definitely something we consider. We work very closely with all those locations, and they provide all the services, almost all the services that we provide in Kankakee at those location.

Host: That's great. Yeah. That makes it a lot easier for the patient, I would imagine.

Lindsay Hoekstra: Yes.

Host: If a patient has never received infusion services-- now, of course, this is going to vary depending on the type of service that they need-- but what might they expect from their first visit?

Lindsay Hoekstra: So, no matter which location a patient chooses, they'll first be greeted by our friendly front desk staff. They'll be checked in for their appointment brought back to the infusion center by one of our highly experienced registered nurses. We have very comfortable recliners that have heat and even massage in our infusion bays so they can just relax while getting their treatment. Many people watch TV, listen to music, or even read during their therapies. The patients are closely monitored by our nursing staff for any allergic reactions or discomfort during the infusion. And our nurses also provide education during their treatments on the medication they're receiving or maybe even the condition that they're there for. They also help set up any subsequent appointments that the patient might need.

Host: Okay. Wow. A massage that's--

Lindsay Hoekstra: I know. That's pretty fancy.

Host: That's next level. We're getting towards the end here. Is there anything else you'd like listeners to know about infusion services in general or the home infusion or the ambulatory infusion center?

Lindsay Hoekstra: Well, all we need for either service line is really in order from your provider to get started. Our team will then perform a benefits investigation and we'll call to get you scheduled. We provide such a wide variety of treatments, that it's hard to touch on them all, but I encourage anyone that has interest to call the center to get more information. But I think definitely what sets us apart from other places is our phenomenal team that we have at the infusion center.

Host: It certainly sounds like it. Well, thank you so much, Lindsay. I appreciate your time. And thank you listeners for tuning into the Well Within Reach Podcast. Be sure to like and subscribe to Well Within Reach on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about the services, including infusion services at Riverside Healthcare, go to riversidehealthcare.org.