Telemedicine/Telehealth Projects in MD
In 2010 MRHA was sub-contracted to inventory Telehealth/Telemedicine (THTM) projects in Maryland. The need to do a statewide inventory came from a history of mobilization of rural health leaders in the state. In 2007 the Maryland Rural Health Plan, released by the State Office of Rural Health (SORH), identified access to primary and specialty care as the top priority for ensuring quality care in rural Maryland. Over 2007-2008 MRHA and SORH held listening sessions on the plan across rural parts of the state where THTM rose to the front as a priority to rural communities. In 2008, the Rural Maryland Council (RMC) and SORH conducted a Statewide Rural Health Roundtable to determine actions to help implement at least a portion of the plan. One of the many recommendations to emerge from that event was to create a statewide telehealth consortium that would help those delivering and receiving THTM services to use technology more widely and cost effectively to deliver care across the state. In addition, the 2008 Task Force to Review Physician Shortages in Rural Areas, chaired by Senator Thomas "Mac" Middleton, recommended exploring how THTM could be used to reduce barriers to access and how reimbursement mechanisms could be implemented.
Early in 2009, the RMC and SORH held a Statewide Telehealth Roundtable that concluded that a statewide inventory of current THTM projects needed to be undertaken to better understand what the state of THTM was in Maryland before moving forward with a consortium. In 2010, the Upper Shore Regional Council (USRC), obtained a grant to fund this inventory through the Maryland Agriculture Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund.
Goal: The goal of the inventory was to compile an inventory of projects already underway around Maryland so that both those providing and receiving services could better coordinate their efforts, build a foundation for compatible infrastructure, address key issues, reduce redundancy, and potentially apply for increased funding to support and expand their services. Survey results were also expected to provide insight into the barriers of implementation as well as difficult policy areas that need to be addressed. The ultimate goal is to use THTM to increase access to quality health care in rural and underserved areas of Maryland.
Results: The Maryland THTM Survey targeted 95 facilities to survey. These facilities include all Maryland hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, individual departments within the University of Maryland Medical System, The Johns Hopkins Health System and MedStar Health, as well as local health departments, state correctional institutions, and projects within Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Of this group, 30 facilities representing 53 different THTM clinical sites responded to date. In addition, 12 of the 95 facilities reported having no involvement in THTM of any kind.
Roundtable December 2010: In December 2010 the RMC, USRC, and MRHA hosted another Telehealth Roundtable to release results of the survey and discuss next steps. Presentations from this event and the Final Report Out can be found at RMC's Website Telehealth Roundtable
