UAMS, ADE telemedicine program benefits rural school districts

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Department of Education teamed up to establish a $1.2 million pilot program providing telemedicine to students, educators and families in rural Arkansas, according to a news release.

The program, School Telemedicine in Arkansas (STAR), will be paid for with a $1.2 million grant to the UAMS Center for Distance Health. In September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the grant and will be paid out over four years, or about $300,000 annually, said registered nurse Tina Benton, oversight director of UAMS Center for Distance Health.

Recently, Arkansas Children’s Hospital started conducting a $700,000 pilot program using telemedicine; however, UAMS is not providing direct healthcare services to students, Benton said.

“We will train the schools, provide network infrastructure and be the program manager but are not providing direct healthcare services,” she said. “The schools are contracting with community healthcare providers for the services, and these contracts were preexisting.”

Telemedicine will allow students increased access to healthcare as providers won’t have to be in the school to provide it.

The grant will provide telemedicine equipment to four school districts: Jasper School District, Lee County School District, Malvern School District and Magazine School District, the release shows. Arkansas Department of Education “will provide educational guidance throughout the project’s development, as well as professional development for the districts.”

The program will offer students, faculty and families access to “psychiatric, obesity prevention and dental care via telemedicine,” according to the news release. Starting in December, psychiatric services will be the first services offered via telemedicine. Other services will be phased in as the infrastructure is added and the network is built.

“What is learned during the STAR pilot project will shape clinical telemedicine care in school-based health centers, so in the future they can use the technology in the most effective ways,” Dr. Curtis Lowery, director of the Center for Distance Health, said. “Telemedicine continues expanding access in new ways like STAR, showing it can be a tool for achieving broad public health goals while addressing the health care needs of individuals.”

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Arkansas is No. 1 in the United States for adult obesity and sixth for childhood obesity.

“The Arkansas Department of Education and UAMS, through STAR, will enhance services to students and their families to remove barriers impacting education and achievement,” Jerri Clark, director of School Health Services for Arkansas Department of Education and board member for Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention, said. “My hope is this project will close the gap between need and resources.”

Also, 31,000 children in Arkansas have diagnosable mental health conditions, according to the National Alliance for Mental Health.

“The STAR project will offer an avenue for students to have more efficient access to medication management and psychiatric services needed to not only improve student attendance but ultimately student performance in the classroom,” Dr. Elizabeth Kindall, school-based mental health specialist for Arkansas Department of Education, said.

UAMS and Arkansas Department of Education have been working on the program and grant since early spring.

In summer 2015, UAMS conducted a pilot program providing telemedicine equipment and training to the Boston Mountain Rural Health Center and connected the Jasper School District’s Kingston and Oark schools to the Boston Mountain clinic offering access to healthcare services, Benton said.