Interstate Health breaks ground on first driver-focused clinic
Summary
On a recent visit to the Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina, a retired trucker and current trolley driver told Jeff Seraphine he remembered holing up in his truck for three days without medicine waiting out the flu until he had enough strength to get back on the road because he didn’t have an accessible place to get healthcare. Accessible healthcare is a challenge all truck drivers face as they live their nomad lifestyles, making them one of the unhealthiest populations in the U.S. Nashville-based Interstate Health Systems (IHS) is on a quest to eradicate that issue. “Because of the driver population and lack of accessibility in the past, we realize that were dealing with a group that their physical that they are getting either annually or every other year may be the only time some of them are seeing a doctor,” Seraphine said. He said IHS also plans to partner with trucking companies to integrate with their platforms to create data sharing opportunities to enhance continuity of care and patient convenience as well as offer real-time telemedicine and a unified prescription service network. “We dont want that to be a barrier … so as we scale, the company will also work really hard to bring healthcare technology solutions that are relevant to this group of people – things that deal with conditions that are very common among truck drivers," Seraphine said.