Florida Partnership for Telehealth Receives HRSA Grant to Expand Telemedicine Programs into Rural North Florida
Waycross, GA (PRWEB) July 23, 2015 -- Florida Partnership for TeleHealth (FPT), a charitable nonprofit promoting the establishment of telemedicine programs in communities throughout Florida, announces that the organization was awarded a $100,000 planning grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to establish telemedicine programs in North Florida.
HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is focused on improving access to healthcare by strengthening the healthcare workforce, building healthy communities and achieving health equity. FTP was awarded the grant to help achieve higher efficiencies, improve essential healthcare and strengthen the rural healthcare system within Florida. FTP was one of 24 organizations granted the award this year.
Many emergency facilities in Tallahassee and the surrounding Leon County area have become chronically overcrowded due to approximately 30% of patients using the emergency facilities inappropriately to gain access to specialists for routine and non-emergency healthcare. Many of these patients are coming from outside of Leon County seeking these specialists. FTP’s plan is to use the grant to establish telemedicine clinics in the rural communities surrounding Tallahassee, which will improve the quality of local care, while alleviating the overuse of these emergency facilities.
“We are very grateful for FTP to be awarded this grant,” says Kelly Jo Kesler, Director of Special Projects for Florida Partnership for Telehealth. “Many rural areas in Florida lack access to medical specialists and it’s our goal to give residents of those communities access to the same quality of care that their urban-based counterparts are able to receive. The grant will also help us establish an advisory board for FTP and identify ways to reduce costs and increase revenues for rural hospitals in North Florida.”
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About Florida Partnership for TeleHealth (FPT)
Florida Partnership for TeleHealth is a charitable nonprofit corporation, which was formed to promote improvements in healthcare and healthcare facilities in communities by assisting in the establishment of telemedicine programs. FPT is known as the leading agency globally focusing on increasing access to healthcare through innovative use of technology. FPT is one of the entities that belong to the Global Partnership for TeleHealth.
The mission of the Global Partnership for TeleHealth is to deliver worldwide access to healthcare. Our unparalleled success in the United States in applying telehealth programs and services has assisted agencies in providing cost effective, efficient, and high quality healthcare. For more information visit http://www.gatelehealth.org.
Shea Ross, Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth, Inc., http://www.gatelehealth.org, 866-754-4325, [email protected]
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