Georgia Partnership for Telehealth and Amerigroup Support Telemedicine Efforts in Jenkins County Schools
(PRWEB) August 05, 2013 -- Georgia Partnership for Telehealth is proud to announce it has joined forces with Amerigroup Community Care of Georgia to provide telemedicine services to schools in Jenkins County, Ga.
“We have a moral obligation consistent with our mission, vision and values, to do the best we can to improve access to care in rural communities across Georgia,” said Amerigroup Georgia Chief Executive Officer Dr. Tunde Sotunde. “Through our relationship with Georgia Partnership For Telehealth, we believe our investment in school-based telehealth clinics is one of the ways in which we can fulfill this obligation—equipping schools with the right technology in order to provide children access to health care services in real time.”
Optim Healthcare of Jenkins County and the Jenkins County Middle and High School now have the ability to connect to healthcare via telemedicine.
In the school setting, a school-based telehealth center has been established. The school nurse will manage this health center. If a student becomes ill at school, the parents have the option of picking the student up or allowing them to see a local primary care doctor via telemedicine. Another unit has been set up in the hospital. Community members should contact the hospital for scheduling.
“It is a win-win situation. Parents get to remain at work and children can get immediate access to healthcare. School-based health is not a new concept. There are about 15 other schools in Georgia using this same approach. It has always been known that a child can’t learn if he’s sick. Now schools have the ability to take care of the whole child, ensuring that he is ready to learn”, states Sherrie Williams, school-based telehealth specialist with Georgia Partnership For Telehealth.
About Georgia Partnership for Telehealth
Georgia Partnership For Telehealth has become one of the most robust, comprehensive networks in the nation. GPT's experience in implementing Telemedicine includes nursing homes, school clinics, correction, specialty clinics, Emergency Department, ICU, stroke assessment, primary care, child advocacy, and continuing education. This statewide collaboration among policy, healthcare providers and patient adoption has led to a tremendous rate of success. Providing access to healthcare via telemedicine has proven to cut costs on travel, work time and provides earlier access to care therefore preventing the large costs of untreated healthcare problems.
About Amerigroup Georgia
Amerigroup Georgia helps improve health care access and quality for more than 290,000 low-income Georgians by developing innovative care management programs and services. Amerigroup Georgia members are assured care that is not only accessible, but also accountable, comprehensive, integrated and patient-centered. It provides ongoing community relations and outreach to encourage members to become active participants in their health care.
Samantha Haas, Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth, Inc., http://www.gatelehealth.org, 912-285-0902, [email protected]
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