The Georgia Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) www.gatelehealth.org a nonprofit establishing telemedicine programs throughout the state, has just partnered with the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) www.abac.edu, a State College of the University System of Georgia.
ABAC is the first college campus in the state to house a telemedicine clinic in addition to their existing campus health clinics which in turn, strengthens GPT’s telemedicine network within the state. Tift Regional Hospital www.tiftregional.com is also invested in the program as ABAC’s primary partner.
The new telemedicine clinic enables students to see a physician at Tift Regional Hospital when the college’s nurse practitioner is not available on campus. The program also gives the clinic nurse the opportunity to present students for specialty care appointments. In addition, the program allows for continuity of care and medication management if needed.
The next phase of the telemedicine clinic will incorporate telemental health into the student services and counseling centers to give the students access to psychiatrists in GPT’s extensive network.
In another move, telemedicine introduced into the nursing school curriculum is going to provide enhanced clinical experiences by connecting the nursing students with real patients at the Tift Hospital using new skills laboratory equipment.
The students will able be able to use the equipment to broaden their telemedicine training with guest lectures and webinars. Upon graduation from the nursing program, each student will be a certified telehealth presenter.
In other news, GPT is going to hold their Sixth Annual Telemedicine Conference March 26-27, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Savannah Georgia. The theme this year is “Telemedicine, It’s Here, It’s Now” www.gatetelehealth.orf/index.php/2011-conference/2015-conference.
A new addition to this year’s conference will be a workshop on grant writing that will cover tips and tools for organizations to use to apply for grant funding. Attendees interested in school-based telehealth clinic grants are especially encouraged to attend as there will be specific insight into school funding sources.