School-based telehealth increases access to high quality health care for students by bringing care into the school setting. Students miss less class time and parents don’t have to miss work to take their child to the doctor’s office. But the benefits of school-based telehealth also extend to educators.
“I know several teachers have also used telehealth for themselves and that has been really helpful,”said Tiffany Besch, a literacy coach at McBee Elementary School. “We don’t have to take time off, find somebody to cover our classrooms. Staff has really responded to it well.”
Besch has two children who attend McBee Elementary in McBee, a small rural town in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. Both of her children have doctor’s visits at school through CareSouth Carolina’s School-based telehealth program. Using telehealth technology including peripheral cameras, digital stethoscopes and otoscopes, a health care provider can conduct a full assessment remotely as the patient remains in the school.
“It has been super convenient to be able to have a doctor’s visit while they’re here at school especially for things that are not contagious like a sinus infection or ear infection.”
The program currently serves students and school staff at 37 schools in Chesterfield, Lee, Dillon and Marlboro counties but plans to expand to offer services in even more schools, according to Staci Cassidy, a telehealth family nurse practitioner with CareSouth Carolina.
“Before I started with CareSouth I didn’t even know these kinds of programs existed,” Cassidy said. “I see a lot of kids that…just don’t have the access to care; it depends on where you live. So I think it’s a great program.”
