School-based telehealth clinics offer health care options in rural areas
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Busy parents know this scenario all too well: you’re in the middle of a hectic work day, and your child’s school calls with the news your child isn’t feeling well. Now plans need to be rearranged, and you are faced with the prospect of trying to get the child in to see their doctor or waiting at an urgent care clinic, all while juggling transportation and other responsibilities. You may end up missing time at work, your child misses school, and an already busy day just got tougher for everyone.
In rural areas, this scenario can be further complicated by a shortage of health care providers or urgent care locations. Data shows 53 out of 92 Indiana counties–many of those rural or partially rural–have a shortage of primary health care providers. People who live in rural counties face longer drives to health care facilities and may lack the reliable internet access needed for convenient telehealth visits.
School-based telehealth clinics can help alleviate some of the challenges parents face in accessing health care for their child. With a school-based telehealth clinic, students can be seen by a physician or other health care provider, in conjunction with the school nurse, without leaving the school building. During a telehealth clinic visit, a student can be diagnosed, treated and monitored for acute illnesses and minor injuries, all under the experienced eyes of a licensed health care provider along with the school nurse team.
Parents don’t have to be present at the visit, although they are welcome if able. This significantly helps families with parents who work a further distance away or who work hourly jobs and can’t easily take off work on short notice. And if a child needs to go home due to illness, a parent or guardian can pick their child up, go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription that was already called in, and go home. This process decreases travel time, waiting room time and time spent waiting on a prescription.
If the telehealth team determines the child can remain at school, the parent hasn’t had to take valuable time off work and take their child to an urgent care clinic only to hear the same conclusion.
Research by Global Pediatric Health shows students with access to care through telehealth at school show improved health and education outcomes, including improvements in the number of symptom-free days for students with asthma, and fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits for students with Type 1 diabetes. Data also shows school-based telehealth clinics may reduce chronic absenteeism. One study by researchers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill found students in grades 3-8 who had access to telemedicine at school missed on average 10% fewer days of school and were 29% less likely to become chronically absent than before the schools implemented telehealth.
School-based telehealth clinics can also help with behavioral health services. For example, a child may be seeing a behavioral health provider for issues with anxiety, but the parent may struggle getting their child to weekly appointments. With a telehealth clinic at school, the child can have a weekly check-in remotely with their therapist. Studies from the Journal of School Health show schools with school-based mental health services see a decrease of nearly 50% in absenteeism and a 25% decrease in tardiness.
Parents are kept informed through appointment notes, and no treatment is ever provided without parental consent on file. For continuity of care, the child’s primary care physician is looped in when needed or if a follow-up visit is required.
As we celebrate National Rural Health Day, MHS is proud to support school-based telehealth clinics as a cost effective, inclusive, innovative way to address access-to-care issues in small cities and rural areas across Indiana. Working closely with school districts, providers, community health partners such as the Indiana Rural Health Association and more, MHS has provided funding and support for telehealth clinics in Elwood, Valparaiso, Alexandria, Mooresville and Greenfield, with additional clinics planned in 2024.
Kevin O’Toole has led MHS since 2014, helping the health plan navigate growth and product expansion including procuring and implementing traditional Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, the Aged, Blind and Disabled program, a Federal Exchange Marketplace product and Medicare Advantage products.