Technology partnership takes newest virtual medicine rural
Feb. 17—Safety net health clinics in rural communities near the Navajo Nation and managed by Presbyterian Medical Services will soon have access to an enhanced form of telehealth dependent on strong broadband connectivity.
The New Mexico Department of Information Technology and Presbyterian Health Plan, a private insurer, have partnered to bring proprietary "mobile medical exam kits" to six PMS-managed clinics in Cuba, Counselor, Torreon, Ojo Encino and Thoreau — some of the state's most underserved communities in northwest New Mexico.
"I've seen firsthand what limited access (to health care) does," Brandon Fryar, the president of PHP, told the Journal. "Those individuals in that community are driving to Albuquerque sometimes multiple times a week. We're really trying to think differently about that, because so much of that specialty care can be safely and effectively delivered through a telehealth option if you have sufficient broadband and the technology behind it."
Fryar said PHP — which serves about 53% of the state's Medicaid population as a managed care organization — used data analysis of its own health insurance enrollees to pinpoint where care is most needed.
The technology PHP is offering to these half dozen clinics is powered and provided by TytoCare. It brings "physical exam data to a visit," Fryar said, something a normal telehealth appointment wouldn't be able to perform. The technology can perform heart, lung, throat and skin exams, among other forms of specialty care.
The Cuba Health Center will be the first to receive the technology, PHP spokeswoman Melanie Mozes told the Journal.
Getting that technology deployed to the PMS clinics, however, required some help from the NMDOIT's Office of Broadband Access and Expansion, said the OBAE Director Kelly Schlegel.
But the state didn't fund the bolstered broadband connection for these clinics. The OBAE department's role was purely technical assistance, Schlegel said, which led some of these clinics to find low-cost options for strong broadband connections.
"We'll be applying this model for different communities and different applications across the state when it comes to technical assistance," she said.
Fryar said there are no immediate plans to partner with other clinics in deploying this technology. But he did say that opportunity may arise.
"Seeking to solve access, we have to think differently," Fryar said. "Getting recruiting specialists to Cuba or Reserve, New Mexico is probably not a lever we can pull in New Mexico. But we can do creative things like what we've come up with here to bring access to those communities."
