The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognized Carilion Clinic as a 2020 Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant recipient and awarded $947,983 for the hospital’s Telemedicine Expansion and Optimization Project.
“We are honored to receive this grant and excited to get to work,” said Steve Morgan, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical information officer for Carilion. “This will allow us to build on our existing network, offering rural patients throughout Western Virginia increased access to high-quality primary and specialty care services.”
Carilion’s Telemedicine Expansion and Optimization Project will offer several new ways for patients to connect and receive care from Carilion:
- Virtual Care Centers (VCCs)
- VCCs will offer telemedicine tools close to home, connecting rural patients to specialty care services.
- VCCs will be established at the Carilion Family and Community Medicine sites in Galax and Wythe County and at Carilion Tazwell Community Hospital.
- Teleneurology Services Access
- Expanded inpatient and outpatient teleneurology offerings will be established at Carilion’s community hospitals in Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Rockbridge and Tazewell Counties.
- Portable Telehealth Video Devices
- Carilion will deploy 80 portable telehealth devices for patient use in primary care practices, assisted living centers and during home health visits in 17 rural municipalities.
- Patients in areas with no broadband will be able to use these devices to transmit health data and video to a local Virtual Care Center and other Carilion facilities.
The need for increased access to care in rural communities was identified as a priority in Carilion’s recent Community Health Assessments. Paired with Carilion’s telemedicine expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this grant will allow for continued improvements in telemedicine access throughout Western Virginia, ensuring patients in rural communities can receive quality care close to home.
