Nicklaus Children’s Hospital www.nickauschildrens.org part of the Miami Children’s Health System has partnered with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) in a pilot program to provide telehealth consultations to assess children with health issues while at school.
The pilot program offered at four M-DCPS schools, connects school-based nurses and their patients with advanced care providers at Nicklaus Children’s. They use secure audiovisual connections to look at certain conditions of the skin, ears, eyes, throat, and lungs to help determine if the child is well enough to stay in school.
The clinical services provided through the School Health Program provide comprehensive health services at high-risk schools through a partnership between Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and The Children’s Trust www.thechildrenstrust.org which was established to support needed services for children and their families.
Children’s Health www.childrens.com located in North Texas initiated a telemedicine program pilot in 27 schools last year. The program enables lab work to test for strep and flu plus school nurses are able to connect with the child’s physician for a virtual patient consultation.
The equipment used consists of a cart equipped with stethoscopes, ear, nose and throat scopes, plus derma scopes. Before the visit, the school nurse takes the child’s vitals and once the virtual system is operating, the physician will further instruct the school nurse. After the doctor has diagnosed the problem, prescriptions can then be sent to the child’s preferred pharmacy.