Students in hundreds of Mississippi’s K-12 schools can now receive telehealth services under a partnership between the Mississippi Department of Education and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The program launched in August 2022 and currently covers more than 70 districts, 406 schools and 183,456 students, or about 37% of students in the state.
“In Mississippi, we are predominantly a rural state,” UMMC Chief Telehealth Officer Saurabh Chandra told the Mississippi Free Press. “Schools are dispersed far and wide in the state and many places don’t have good access to health care, … so (former State Superintendent Carey Wright) put together a vision for bringing health care access to students right in the schools.”
The program removes many of the logistical barriers to health care that families face and helps schools combat issues faced due to a lack of medical access in their respective communities.
“We already had established a program in a few school districts prior to this program, and other places throughout the country have shown direct benefits of school-based telehealth programs and reducing absenteeism and providing access to health care,” Chandra said.
School nurses provide a routine evaluation of students with medical complaints. After identifying that a child needs services, the school nurse obtains consent from the parent and begins a video call with the UMMC provider. The provider examines the child and may prescribe medication or make referrals as needed. Parents are also invited to join the call.
The video visits are more in-depth than a typical telehealth call. Each participating school has a laptop, webcam, digital USB otoscope and digital USB stethoscope that school nurses use to assist with the examinations. The tools help provide diagnostic information beyond a child’s complaints.
“(These) enable the remote providers to hear heart and lung sounds and also look at the ear, nose and throat to make good decisions about the health of the kids,” Chandra said.
UMMC telehealth providers have treated more than 1,600 students since the partnership began.
Saurabh Chandra serves as University of Mississippi Medical Center’s chief telehealth officer and oversees the Mississippi school-based telehealth program.