Mobile Telehealth Delivers Solutions for Berrien County, Georgia and Beyond
More than 300,000 of Georgia’s children are uninsured and have limited access to routine healthcare. Veda Johnson, MD, executive director of the Urban Health Program in the department of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and co-founder of the Whitefoord Community Program’s school-based clinics, wants to change that.
Johnson recently announced funding for 11 planning grants throughout Georgia intended to stimulate development, collaboration, and community discussion to expand the number of school-based health centers. The grants are funded by a $3 million gift from The Zeist Foundation aimed to help improve outcomes for at-risk children in metro Atlanta and throughout the state over the next five years.
There are 2,000 school health clinics in the nation with 245 in Florida, 206 in New York, and 160 in California. The numbers drop substantially in the southern states with 64 in Louisiana, 49 in North Carolina and 31 in Mississippi. Georgia is a distant last with only two school health clinics for the entire state.
“These planning grants will help increase access to healthcare for Georgia’s neediest children and adolescents through comprehensive school health services,” said Johnson. “In addition to increasing access to healthcare, these sites have been proven to be effective in improving school attendance and are an important factor in improved academic achievement.”
There is a dire need to expand school based clinic services. According to the 2009 Kids Count Data Book – a national study on the well-being of America’s children – Georgia ranks in the bottom 10 in:
low-birth weight
infant mortality,
high school dropouts,
births to teens,
children in single-parent families,
teens not attending school and not working.
Georgia has the third-highest percentage of high-school dropouts in the country.
“By expanding school-based clinic services, children in Georgia will benefit from improved access to primary healthcare, improved health outcomes, and improved school attendance.” said Johnson. “This state will benefit from reduced cost to the Medicaid system through the reduction in inappropriate emergency room visits, hospitalizations for chronic illnesses.”
Matt Jansen, former Berrien County Collaborative director, pursued the program for Berrien County schools. To fund the program, the collaborative won grants from the Governor’s Office’s Systems of Care, Emory’s Urban Health Initiative, and the Georgia Health Care Foundation. This past August, The Med Clinic opened in Berrien Elementary School. Since, the program has grown to include 22 percent of the school’s population, says Sherrie Williams, The Med Clinic program director.
Berrien County is the only Georgia school system with a school-based clinic outside of two participating systems in Atlanta. Berrien is the only system in the state with telemedicine capabilities, according to coordinators. The clinic offers acute illness, mental health, and specialty care on site.
The Med Clinic provides the means to access medical care without a child having to leave the school for an appointment, a parent having to lose time at work, or a teacher requiring a substitute. If necessary, parents can make appointments through The Med Clinic in the morning, and The Med Clinic e-mails participating physicians, Dr. Brian Griner of Valdosta, or Dr. Richard E. Wheeler of Nashville. When a physician or physician’s assistant becomes available, the child is called from class and the appointment is facilitated through a mobile telemedicine platform. If the child is very sick, he or she can stay in the clinic until a doctor becomes available.
“I think it’s a wonderful program and I hope we can continue to expand it and ultimately improve healthcare for children,” said Dr. Richard Wheeler.
Williams says Berrien Elementary is the first step in bringing the program to all five Berrien County schools during the next five years. The Med Clinic will expand to Berrien County Primary School this month. Tammy Carter, RN is excited about the expansion and will be responsible for the newly expanded Med Clinic at the Primary School. Using a C PORT Solutions MEDI PORT provided by the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth, “The images are unsurpassed,” said Carter.
“I am very excited about the possibilities,” Carter explained that she was already considering many ways of utilizing the telemedicine capabilities to access care for her patients. She is currently exploring a partnership with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Atlanta to follow up on positive scoliosis screenings prior to a family having to drive to Atlanta for consultation. She also suggested that there may be a way to utilize the technology to help facilitate Form 3300 (Certificate of Eye, Ear, Dental Exam) for students in partnership with the Berrien County Health Department.
Williams believes telemedicine and school-based health clinics aren’t just the future for Berrien County schools, but for schools across the nation. Other South Georgia school systems have expressed interest in the program. “This is definitely the wave of the future,” she says.
