Expanded care fuels school-based telehealth growth

Published on Monday, February 12, 2024

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

Photos By: Joe Ellis/ UMMC Photography

A growing number of students in Mississippi public schools receive medical and behavioral health care at school, thanks to the Center for Telehealth at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The program, funded by a $17.6 million grant from the Mississippi Department of Education, has grown from serving four school districts 18 months ago to 73. The number of appointments, which are free to families, has steadily trended upward since 2022, peaking at 570 in November 2023.

That rapid growth means more children are getting the care they need quickly and at school during a time of year known for respiratory illnesses, said Christina Wright, director of school telehealth at the UMMC Center for Telehealth.

“For urgent care, we are seeing a great deal of strep and flu,” Wright said of recent months. “Thanks to funds from UMMC’s Center of Excellence, we are able to provide free rapid tests to school districts in our program who have a CLIA certificate (a federal certification that allows a laboratory to perform certain tests). School nurses have been trained by our team to perform the tests. This has helped make a definitive diagnosis more quickly.”

Ear infections and skin issues also are prompting telehealth appointments, Wright said.

Behavioral health telehealth visits are also part of the program. “Anxiety is our number one condition, followed by depression and ADHD,” she said. “A lot of our school districts are in rural areas where access to care is an issue, or perhaps they can’t get to see a provider in a timely manner. This is where we can help.”

If any conditions require in-person treatment, “our team will always let families know,” Wright said. Parents are encouraged to participate in telehealth visits and ask questions in real time.

The program means students miss fewer classes and get care quickly, said Christin Streif, a school nurse at Warren Central High School in Vicksburg.

“The Mississippi School Based Telehealth program has allowed students to receive acute medical care for a variety of conditions that they previously may not have been able to be seen for,” she said. “Our students don't always have access to care for various reasons, and this has provided that. The Mississippi School Based Telehealth program has also allowed our students to receive behavioral health care without having to leave school, allowing them to miss minimal classroom time. We are very grateful for this program.”

The school-based telehealth program has worked to prevent diabetes through lifestyle change training that’s being shared with students by school nurses.

“We have reached a growing number of Mississippi children and teens, through their school nurses, with information on eating a healthier diet and being active,” she said. “Forming healthy habits now will mean a healthier state in the future.”

Lifestyle change training for school nurses began in November. So far, almost 50 nurses have participated in training.

Helping address students’ dental needs is also a part of the expansive telehealth program. The UMMC School of Dentistry’s Population Oral Health Collaborative is training school nurses in how to handle oral-care issues through school-based telehealth. 

“This was a rare opportunity to provide outreach education to so many school nurses,” said Dr. Elizabeth Carr, chair and professor of dental hygiene.

The School of Dentistry gathered lists of dentists near or in each participating school district to provide to school nurses for referrals and created a curriculum and videos to help school nurses through situations ranging from cavities to tooth trauma.

“We’re providing basic dental information that, if you’re in a situation, would be good to have,” she said.

The grant funding for the school-based telehealth project ends Sept. 30. Wright said the Medical Center is seeking additional funding to keep the program running.

“The grant from the Mississippi Department of Education helped us establish this statewide program by investing in the equipment and training. It would be a waste to invest these resources and not continue the program.”

In 2017, UMMC’s Center for Telehealth was named by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration as one of two Telehealth Centers of Excellence in the U.S. The center has more than 200 sites in 73 of Mississippi’s 82 counties to provide a comprehensive telehealth program to address health care needs in Mississippi and beyond.