Medical University of South Carolina www.muschealth.org/telehealth has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) www.hrsa.gov an agency within HHS. The funding will enable the MUSC Telehealth Center to continue to provide a range of telehealth services to more than 200 locations statewide.
Shawn Valenta, Director, MUSC Health Center of Telehealth reports “This grant is a first-of-its- kind HRSA grant and is going to provide new direction in providing telehealth.”
The HRSA grant funding will enable MUSC to continue to:
- Balance the need for population-level outreach while concurrently using a targeted approach to health system integration
- Examine the barriers to diffusing innovations in rural healthcare settings and test new ideas for caring for underserved populations
- Reinforce the commitment to use evidence-based, data-driven approaches to identify needs for telehealth services plus monitor and improve existing programs
- Work with legislators and policy-makers to develop and maintain bipartisan support for telehealth initiatives
The MUSC Health Center for Telehealth in addition to hospital-based programs, has several outpatient programs where urgent, primary and specialty care is delivered to patients virtually to any location.
Via funding through the South Carolina Legislature, MUSC’s telemedicine has been growing but has been housed at various locations across the campus. However, with additional funding from the legislature, Duke Endowment, and from private donors, the Telehealth Center now has dedicated space in the main hospital
Today, telemedicine services are expanding at MUSC. For example, a program for medically complex children is collaborating across multiple specialties in the Department of Pediatrics. The goal is to integrate home telehealth services into a program that will focus especially on improving care for children on home mechanical ventilation equipment..
The Center for Telehealth has also partnered with the Technology Applications Center for Healthful Lifestyles (TACHL) www.muschealth.org/telehealth/research/tachl to prepare quarterly reports on peripheral devices for remote patient monitoring. These reports are to be used by clinicians, researchers, and innovators as a quick guide to using mobile-based patient monitoring devices in their research or practice.
Also, under development is the “Continuous Virtual Monitoring” program which now uses a remote patient monitoring system designed to provide real-time video monitoring and rapid intervention. This is especially important for patients admitted to MUSC medical units or to the Institute of Psychiatry that are exhibiting fall risks or dealing with other safety issues.