A pediatric patient and her family use telehealth technology to consult with a physician in a distant location. Contributed photo.
In the field of medicine and healthcare, the use of technology has changed the methods doctors and patients use to interact with each other. From the widespread adoption of electronic medical records to advances in medical diagnostics and treatments, technology is at the forefront of healthcare delivery.
With the rapid impact of technology, it comes as no surprise that the use of telemedicine (or telehealth) is changing the face of healthcare, especially in rural areas.
According to the American Telemedicine Association, telemedicine is the “remote delivery of healthcare services and clinical information using telecommunications technology. This includes a wide array of clinical services using the Internet, wireless, satellite, and telephone media.”
In 2004, as part of a merger between insurance companies Anthem and WellPoint Health, telehealth received a financial boost in Georgia through a generous grant of approximately $11 million. The funds were part of a three-year commitment to help launch a statewide telehealth network in Georgia.
Georgia Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) was established in 2007 to help guide the state’s expansion of telehealth services, especially in rural communities. Three years later, when funds from the grant ended, GPT became a non-profit charitable corporation, which is now part of Global Partnership for Telehealth, which has programs in Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, and eight other states.
The mission of GPT is to leverage telehealth technologies to promote improved access to healthcare for all Georgia residents.
GPT provides the application of telehealth to more than 650 endpoints in Georgia, including hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, departments of public health, correctional centers, doctor offices, and public schools.
Sherrie Williams
“An endpoint is a giver or receiver of telehealth services,” said Sherrie Williams, chief operating officer with GPT. “We have seen approximately 500,000 encounters. These encounters include primary care, mental healthcare, specialty medical care, and education.”
Rena Brewer, CEO with GPT, said the growth of telehealth in Georgia is making a positive impact toward healthcare access in many rural communities.
“Through telehealth, we have the ability to allow patients to see doctors that might be 150 to 200 miles away,” Brewer said. “We see the technology in telehealth becoming a primary factor in keeping residents in many rural Georgia healthy.”
Across the GPT network, telehealth is used for primary, mental health, and specialty care such as pulmonology. Primary and mental health are the two largest service areas.
Tift Regional Health Systems (TRHS), a founding member with GPT, remains one of the highest utilizers of telehealth in the state.
Rena Brewer
“Tift Regional has worked with GPT from the start,” said Brewer, “and they have helped blaze the telehealth trail in Georgia.”
Jeff Robbins, TRHS director of neurodiagnostic and telehealth, has been an advocate for telehealth for more than a decade.
“For me, telehealth is an expansion of Tift Regional’s philosophy, in that we treat everyone with respect and dignity,” Robbins said. “It doesn’t matter how they enter the building. If they enter through a video or front of the building, they deserve the same quality of care.”
TRHS implemented telehealth to serve patients that might not have the financial resources, reliable transportation, or flexible work schedule that allows them to travel to see a medical specialist.
“Telehealth erases time and distance,” Robbins said, “and most importantly it connects a person in need to someone who can help.”
TRHS started with behavioral health issues, especially in the area of autism. The outreach has expanded to include pediatric services, stroke evaluation, and pre- and post-operation kidney transplant assessments.
In Georgia, one of the largest and fastest growing segments of telehealth is within rural public school systems.
In South Georgia, Berrien County Schools started the first telehealth program, which continues to serve as a model for other schools across the state.
According to Williams, GPT now works with 27 school systems (107 schools) throughout the state to provide primary care to school-age children.
Tift Regional funds and operates school telehealth programs in Berrien, Irwin, and Tift counties. As needed, physicians provide remote wellness visits for both students and teachers, which keeps them in school.
Jeff Robbins
Robbins explained that students go to the school nurse, who then activates the telehealth visit with a physician within the GPT network.
Schools are set up with telehealth equipment, which includes a high-definition camera and specialized scope.
“The nurse uses a scope to look inside the child’s throat or ears or listen to their heart,” Robbins said. “That information is transferred (electronically) to the doctor.”
The school-based telehealth program provides access to healthcare that may not be available to all children.
“In some cases, we are impacting children who do not have a regular doctor,” Robbins said. “Often they go to the emergency room because they have a sore throat or don’t go to the doctor at all. They miss school, sometimes for two or three days.”
Robbins said TRHS is in partnership with the schools.
“We are trying to create a new culture, where the child goes to the school nurse and then has access to a doctor,” Robbins said. “The doctor then determines if the child can return to the class or needs to go home or seek additional care.”
Robbins said the goal is to provide healthcare options that help keep students in school.
“It is the school’s responsibility to teach the children,” Robbins said. “And it is Tift Regional’s responsibility to keep children as healthy as we can. In return, this partnership gives each child the best opportunity to succeed in life.”