Virtual doctor appointments coming to Harris County schools. Here’s how telehealth works
All students and employees in this Columbus area school district soon will have access to a medical doctor or nurse practitioner without leaving campus.
In a partnership with Mercer Medicine, the Harris County School District is expected to be among the few systems in Georgia to offer telehealth services at each of its schools.
When the program launches Jan. 31, the nurses at Harris County’s seven schools will be able to help more of the 5,615 students and 921 employees receive a wider array of medical treatments. The school nurses will have a telemedicine cart with equipment to examine a patient’s heart, lungs, eyes, ears, nose, throat — and a Mercer Medicine doctor or nurse practitioner remotely can evaluate that information in real time to provide a diagnosis.
For example, instead of sending a student home because of an earache, the possibility of an infection could be determined at school, and a prescription for antibiotics could be sent to a pharmacy.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty awesome program,” Harris County High School nurse Whitney Batchelor told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“You get to keep your child in school. … It also benefits the parents because they don’t necessarily have to take off work,” she said. We’re able to link them in (via videoconference or phone) during the telemedicine appointment. That way they’re completely involved.”
The service means fewer students and employees will leave school for doctor appointments. In addition to primary care providers, medical specialists can be involved in the telehealth patient’s treatment virtually.
Each HCSD school will have a private room where the school nurse and patient can connect with a doctor or nurse practitioner through remote access technology.
Parents can request a telehealth appointment for their children. Or if students feel ill and go to the school nurse, the nurse can contact the parent and recommend a telehealth appointment.
The program also will give students in the Healthcare Pathways curriculum real-world experience by allowing them to observe and assist the medical providers during telehealth sessions.
To enroll in the telehealth program, contact your school’s office or download the application online at harris.k12.ga.us/telehealth.
A move to better healthcare
Approximately 2% of U.S. public schools were offering telehealth services as of 2019, according to the National Institutes of Health.
This is another step in HCSD’s effort to reduce barriers to healthcare and improve wellness in the county. HCSD superintendent Roger Couch led the initiative that established this telehealth program after the April opening of a Mercer Medicine clinic in Hamilton. It is the county’s only full-time site for primary healthcare, where the school district, Harris County Board of Commissioners and community leaders partnered on the project.
Dr. David Kay, the clinic’s supervising physician, called the HCSD telehealth centers “a furthering of the commitment (of Mercer University) to reach out to those underserved, high-risk population groups in any way possible to increase the chances of them actually receiving care.”
Kay also praised the Harris County leadership.
“All of it just points to a countywide leadership that not only says we need these things done,” he said, “but actually does the heavy lifting to make sure these things are done.”
Increased absences and early departures
Shelia Baker, the HCSD assistant superintendent for support services, said officials noticed during the past three years an increase in absences and early departures from school because of illness.
“We figured if we were to implement a school-based telehealth clinic, which kind of started with putting it in one school, the conversation expanded,” she said. “As we started looking at ways to do that, we found out implementing a school-based telehealth clinic would help us.”
The total cost to establish the seven telehealth centers is approximately $120,000, Baker said, and the annual cost to operate them is estimated to be around $100,000. She explained the rationale for such an investment.
“We as a school district are concerned not only about academically caring for our children,” she said, “but ensuring they are healthy so while they are in school they can learn to the best of their abilities.”
Mercer won’t pay HCSD for access to the students and employees, Baker said, and HCSD won’t pay Mercer for the service.
“There’s no exchange of monies between Mercer and the Harris County School District,” she said. “Mercer is the biller. They will be billing whatever insurance agencies or other medical coverages families have. All we’re doing is being the liaison to connect our families to a medical provider.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 9:11 AM.
