Improving
Health Outcomes for Children in Rural KY Schools
University of Kentucky Research Foundation - Kentucky
TeleCare
Kentucky
TeleCare
Rob Sprang
K128 KY Clinic, 740 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40536-0284
Ph: 859-257-6404 Fax: 859-257-2881
http://kytelecare@uky.edu
Email: rsprang@uky.edu
Network
Partners: St. Claire Regional Medical Center will
be a rural hub for six public school clinics, Lewis
County Primary Care Center will be a hub for five
public school clinics and Fleming County Hospital
and the two hubs will connect to the University of
Kentucky.
Project
Purpose: Utilize telehealth technology to bring
needed healthcare resources into public school clinics
by connecting the University of Kentucky, St. Claire
Regional Medical Center, Fleming County Hospital,
Lewis County Primary Care and 11 public school clinics
to bring education to combat our high rates of cardiovascular
disease, lung disease, obesity, cancer and smoking.
Telehealth will bring clinical and educational support
to children to improve early diagnosis and treatment
and help students make better choices and improve
chronic disease management.
Outcomes
Expected: Combat chronic problems of juvenile
diabetes, obesity, hypertension, smoking, mental/behavioral
health and other risk factors which produce negative
health outcomes by improving access to preventative
health information and chronic disease support as
well as improving access to primary care and specialty
clinicians. Satisfaction measurement with Likert surveys
and outcome data collected with OAT GPRA Performance
Measures using quasi-experimental studies.
Service
Area: The network includes three counties 1,116
square miles with 50,058 citizens. Except UKMC, all
sites are rural; six are in HPSA's; two are partial
HPSA's; seven are in MUA's; thirteen are in Mental
Health HPSA's, and six are in Dental HPSA's. One site
is a FQHC, and two are licensed Rural Health Clinics
within public schools.
Services
Provided: Interactive videoconference technology
provide derm, pediatric cardiology and child psych
consults. Lewis County will deliver electronic medical
records and both hubs will deliver supporting education
and clinical activity for children with chronic diseases
such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension and other health
risks such as obesity, smoking and other lifestyle
choices.
Equipment:
The network utilizes Polycom video systems with Accord
video bridges. A Radvision bridge will provide rural
connectivity within the Lewis County sub-network.
Transmission:
The network operates at 768K through dedicated
T1's and includes both H.323 and H.320 connectivity.
Direct, point-to-point and bridging services are provided
in the network. |
