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March 2023:
Women's History Month
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Happy Women's History Month! We are grateful for both the women who came before us and paved the path we walk now, as well as the trailblazers carving new ways forward. According to the World Health Organization, women make up 70% of the world's healthcare workforce. We'd like to introduce you to some of our region's own women who continue to innovate within their states and programs to show you how their passion has helped change lives and the telehealth industry.
–HTRC Team
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CELEBRATING WOMEN IN (TELE)MEDICINE
This month, we interviewed leaders and healthcare innovators across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.
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Dr. Karen Edison
You have been a member of the Missouri Telehealth Network since 1995. How have you seen healthcare change during your time with MTN?
"Since joining MTN in 1995, I have seen recognition and acceptance of telemedicine, now telehealth, change immensely. When I started, the equipment was bulky and not always reliable. When I retired from clinical practice in May of 2019, after 26 years of practicing teledermatology, telehealth technology was on-line, light weight, and reliable. In fact, we were using Zoom and this was long before the pandemic."
How has your role at the Missouri Telehealth Network enhanced your work as a dermatologist?
"I loved practicing teledermatology because it helped me reach underserved patients who likely would not have received expert dermatology care without its availability. I also used it for follow-up of patients I had seen in person but who lived far away. It is a patient-centered method of care."
What has it been like working as medical director of the Missouri Telehealth Network, and the director for the Center for Health Policy at the University of Missouri?
"I served as Medical Director for the Missouri Telehealth Network and Director of the Center for Health Policy alongside my 16-year role as Department Chair for Dermatology. This was a busy time of my professional life to be sure. Now I serve as Senior Medicaid Director for both organizations and report to the leaders who once reported to me. It helps that we share immense respect for each other and are dear friends."
What was your journey in developing these programs?
"I was co-founder of the Center for Health Policy in 2002, along with Dr. Kristofer Hagglund, who now serves as Dean of the School of Health Professions at Mizzou. We had both been Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows in the 106th U.S. Congress and came back at the same time. I resumed my role at MTN as Medical Director and lived through 9 years of OAT (Office for the Advancement of Telehealth) grants before garnering sustained funding from the State to be a State-wide Telehealth Resource Center. I had worked to expand Medicare reimbursement for rural telehealth while in DC, so it was a natural extension of my work to come back to Missouri and work with the State to expand our telehealth regulatory landscape."
What would you consider the biggest influences in your professional work that contributed to you leadership?
"The primary influences in my professional life have been my mentors. Early on Philip Anderson, MD, and Ronald Swinfard, MD, were key mentors. Phil is the one that encouraged me to seek the RWJ HP Fellowship which was life-changing in many respects. Once I had served for two years on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, I gained a new understanding of policy and politics and how to make things happen. Many lessons learned there.
- You never accomplish meaningful change alone – it always takes a team.
- If you want to do something meaningful, you cannot care who gets the credit.
- Almost all of the people in Washington making policy for rural health, have never lived in rural America and have little working knowledge of how healthcare in rural areas actually works."
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Dr. Eve-Lynn Nelson
You’ve helped pioneer school-based telebehavioral health programs, with many successes with Telehealth ROCKS. Can you tell us about the unique program? What is it like leading these programs?
"Telehealth ROCKS (Regional Outreach to Communities, Kids, & Schools) success lies in partnering with southeast Kansas’ incredible individuals and organizations advancing a mission where every child has the same opportunities for success in school and in life. Guided by these community leaders, Telehealth ROCKS is the “peanut butter and chocolate” pairing of school-based clinical behavioral services and school-based community health workers. The combined approach supports prevention services to address social determinants of health needs as well as extends evidence-based, trauma-informed interventions."
You currently have $14 million in federal funding and serve as a principal Investigator and evaluator for different federal and foundation-funded programs, what drove you to seek funding, and what has been one of the biggest successes?
"A March 2023 JAMA Network article shared, “A nation that begins losing its most cherished population—its children—faces a crisis like no other,” referring to the increasing all-cause mortality for children (Woolf, Wolf, & Rivara, 2023). Mental health issues and suicide attempts have risen among young people under 18, resulting in a declaration of a national state of emergency for child mental health (AAP-AACAP-CHA, 2021). Unfortunately, Kansas ranks second to last in the nation for child mental health (The State of Mental Health America, October 2022), largely driven by access challenges. At the same time, there are a growing number of evidence-based interventions to improve child health and wellbeing. The increased funding is useful in creating a longer table for families, communities across the region, and child-serving systems to collaboratively innovate, implement, and evaluate solutions to meet these child behavioral health needs."
What would you consider your biggest personal achievement in this work?
"It is a great privilege that Telehealth ROCKS and Heartland Telehealth Resource Center partners believe in our work and continue to “take the leap together” in trying new approaches and continuously improving our efforts. I’m also very grateful for the tenacity, ingenuity, and dedication of my internal teams in advancing child behavioral health and telehealth, regionally and nationally."
What was your journey in developing these programs?
"My telebehavioral health journey started in 1999, thanks to my mentor and telepsychology pioneer Dr. Martha Barnard, whose curiosity and innovation to extend care to all children in our region are unmatched. The early journey included flights hit by lightning, an emergency landing, and one trying to outrun a tornado:) Over the last 24 years, the technologies have become faster, cheaper, and better. What continues to work best is translating our strongest interventions and best webside manner to telehealth."
If you could go back in time, what one piece of “if I knew then what I know now…” advice would you tell yourself?
"Striving to serve children and families is a superpower that will open doors to amazing experiences with families, colleagues, and communities. If you’re not in an environment that shares your mission-driven passion, then fail fast and move forward. Leaning into a nonjudgmental, continuous quality improvement approach will set you up for success in work and in life."
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Dr. Denna Wheeler
You are the director of Rural Research and Evaluation at OSU’s center for health sciences. Can you tell us about the programs you have overseen/created for the Center?
"My new title (as of Feb 1) is Executive Director of the Center for Rural Health. In my role, I oversee several HRSA funded program including the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program Office, the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health, and most recently a Medical Student Education Program grant that helped launch our medical school’s satellite campus in Tahlequah, OK, a collaboration between OSU CHS and the Cherokee Nation. We recently received a $3 million grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) as part of a statewide health equity project that will allow us to complete several projects including purchasing equipment to modernize telehealth delivery."
What was your journey in developing these programs?
"The key to successful program development and implementation is relationship building. The recent funding from OSDH is a perfect example and is the product of many years of collaborative work. I can say the same for AHEC Program. Our AHEC’s are the product of years of relationship building."
How has your leadership practice evolved over time? Do you have tools you use when working with different practitioners in telehealth?
"I’ve developed better listening skills over time. I used to focus on solving the problem, but I’ve learned that you can’t solve every problem and often people just want to feel heard. Now I listen first and then do what I can to assist."
What would you consider your biggest personal achievement in this work?
"All our achievements are due to having a great team, so the most important achievement is the team. My focus is keeping the team in position to be productive."
If you could go back in time, what one piece of “if I knew then what I know now…” advice would you tell yourself?
"I would tell myself to stop caring so much about what people think about you and spend more time caring for people."
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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE & SUPPORT | HTRC offers technical assistance for existing programs or for those organizations in the tri-state area. We offer up to 10 hours of assistance as part of funding provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration, which supports advancing telehealth in rural areas and to communities that are lacking opportunities to access healthcare. The HTRC can provide one on one assistance to assess readiness to adopt a new program or to evaluate an existing program to expand services. We will connect you to experts in technology, policy, and organizational structure. In addition, we can aid in preparing your patients or clients for their telehealth visit. For more information about our eSTART Assessment or to Request Assistance, please visit our website. | | |
The National Academies of Practice is a non-profit organization comprised of distinguished practitioners and scholars elected by peers from multiple health professions to advise governmental bodies on our healthcare system. The organization developed a wonderful resource for new and existing telehealth programs. The NAP Telepractice Toolkit: A resource for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice can be found on their website. | |
Telehealth Unmuted: Ep. 16 Coming Soon! | |
Episode 16 features Morgan Waller, Director of Telemedicine at Children’s Mercy Kansas City (CMKC). Morgan has led CMKC’s Telemedicine program for over a decade now, starting with one patient in 2012 to over 4,500 RN Facilitated Pediatric Specialty Telemedicine Encounters at four regional outreach locations, 16,552 Direct to Patient Virtual Appointments and over 15,000 Contracted Asynchronous Diagnostic Interpretations annually. Morgan is a co-author of the American Academy of Pediatrics Telehealth Guidelines and the American Nurses Association revision of Principles on Connected Health. She has numerous publications and interviews on telemedicine.
Stay tuned for the release of Episode 16! Check out our full list of episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
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Social Media
Our HTRC social channels have continued to
grow and evolve—with new, fresh content, graphics and followers each month. Follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES | | |
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It’s not too late to register for our series, Keeping Momentum in Telehealth! Partnering with the Missouri Telehealth Network and the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, and Kansas Telehealth Partners, the HTRC hosts this ECHO series focusing on enhancing telehealth programs as the public health emergency ends. Be sure to select “Telemedicine” when registering. Register here today!
SAVE THE DATE:
April 18 | 12-1 PM CST
Keeping Momentum: Clinical Providers and Teams
Learn from providers in telehealth about how to build program “buy-in”, workflows, and staff training from the provider perspective.
May 16 | 12-1 PM CST
Keeping Momentum: Interprofessional Telehealth Training Program
The Missouri Telehealth Network will offer free accredited modules with comprehensive telehealth education and training for all health disciplines.
June 20 | 12-1 PM CST
Keeping Momentum: Empower Consumers and Consumer Protection
The Mid-Atlantic ADA Center will be providing guidance focusing on accessibility and protections to consider for patients living with disabilities.
July 18 | 12-1 PM CST
Keeping Momentum: Telehealth Services Across the Lifespan
For the last ECHO in the series, we will review telehealth across the lifespan and how programs can ensure services are meeting communities and patients where they are.
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This series features webinars on a variety of telehealth topics including coding, billing, policy updates, developing workflows and staff training, and technology guidance. Dates and topics will be posted as they are announced. For more information and access to previous webinars visit our website. We offer certificates of attendance so be sure to check with your licensure or accrediting body to see if it is accepted for CEUs.
April 4 | 12-1 PM CST
Evaluate and Assess Your Billing Process
Richelle Marting, JD, MHSA, RHIA will provide helpful tools to evaluate your current reimbursement processes, including planning for future sustainability as the public health emergency comes to an end.
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Ready to Learn ECHO Series |
Ready to Learn ECHO Series
We want to help improve your classroom environment by sharing evidence-based techniques based on the mind-body connection. This Telehealth ROCKS series will feature practical tools and concepts that you can implement in your classroom. We’ll explore resilience topics such as exploring decision fatigue, building routines, strengthening the mind-body connection and more. No cost to attend. Join us on April 6 from 12-1 PM CST.
Register HERE!
All Under One Roof: Supporting Caregivers of Children with Medical Complexity
Telehealth ROCKS invites you to a session focused on supporting parents and caregivers of children with medical complexity. This training will use the Project ECHO model designed to create a virtual community of learners. Children with medical complexity can have many needs and require intensive resources. It’s vital to support caregivers as they navigate care for their children. Join us online via Zoom. No cost to attend. Join us on April 13 from 12-1 PM CST.
Register HERE!
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Safety Program for Telemedicine – Continuing Education Available | |
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded project, the AHRQ Safety Program for Telemedicine: Improving the Diagnostic Process, led by NORC at the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, and Baylor College of Medicine is a free 18-month program that seeks to improve the cancer diagnostic process. The goal is to work with healthcare practices across the country to improve processes for diagnosing cancer for patients who receive some or all of their care over telemedicine.
The program is currently recruiting primary care practices, including OB/GYNs. The program is free to participating practices, and practice staff may be eligible for continuing education units (CEUs), continuing medical education (CME) credits, and ABIM MOC points. The program consists of educational presentations about best practices to improve the diagnosis of breast, colorectal, and lung cancers when delivering care over telemedicine. Experts will deliver presentations in several ways to facilitate uptake by busy clinicians—live and recorded webinars, as well as written materials. Participants are asked to engage with the learning materials as well as with colleagues to push the practice overall toward improved verification, timeliness, and communication in cancer diagnosis.
The program is hosting a series of informational webinars beginning March 30 through May 24th for practices to learn more about the program.
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Telehealth Everywhere 2023 | |
This year, HTRC is partnering with Great Plains Telehealth Resource & Assistance Center (gpTRAC) to host the Telehealth Everywhere 2023 conference, which will be held on May 23-24, 2023, at the Radisson Blu - Mall of America.
Our conference will bring nationally-known speakers to our regional audience, including Ann Mond Johnson, CEO of American Telemedicine Association; Ceci Connolly, CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP); Carrie Nixon managing partner at Nixon Gwilt Law; and Alex Rozenbaum, senior director of the Center for Innovation at the American Hospital Association.
Don't miss out on this fantastic learning opportunity! Register TODAY!
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National Consortium of Telehealth Centers: Webinar Series | |
The National Consortium of Telehealth Centers offers education opportunities from partner TRC’s and national organizations. Be sure to check out upcoming topics and register for future events.
Coming up…
Social Determinants of Health and Value-Based Pay, brought to you by the California Telehealth Resource Center.
Value-Based Pay efforts are increasingly acknowledging the importance of patient social complexity in addition to traditional focus on clinical complexity and utilization. This webinar will discuss how social determinants of health screening and action by providers are being measured and tied in to payer and health system approaches in order to drive equity and sustainability in their programs.
Join us on April 20 from 9 – 10am CST.
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Health Resources and Services Administration: Advancing Health Equity among Hispanic/Latino Populations | |
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA), Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA) invites you to be part of the next session of our Advancing Health Equity Among the Hispanic/Latino Populations Spanish Learning Series.
2nd Session: Overcoming Adversity and Fostering the Mental Health of Latino/Hispanic Youth and their Families through Integrated Care
Date: Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am PST | 11:00am - 12:30pm MST | 12:00pm - 1:30pm CST | 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST
Featured Speakers:
Natasha Coulouris, Director, HRSA Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA)
Nancy Rios, Regional Administrator, HRSA/IEA, Region 7 - Kansas City
Gladys Carrillo, LCSW, Director of Program Services, National Center for Farmworker Health, Inc.
Javier I. Rosado, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor, Florida State University College of Medicine, Isabel Collier Read Medical Campus | Director of Clinical Research, FSU Center for Child Stress & Health
Catherine DeVito, MA, Community Health Representative and Case Worker, Florida State University Center for Child Stress & Health
HRSA IEA will broadcast the session in Spanish with live language interpretation to English. Prior to the session, registrants will receive a copy of the presentation in English with instructions for accessing the interpretation services and closed captioning.
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The Heartland Telehealth Resource Center's goal is to increase access to healthcare for rural Americans through telehealth and telemedicine. The Heartland Telehealth Resource Center was made possible by grant number U1UTH42530 (PI: Nelson) from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The information and tools presented on the Heartland Telehealth Resource Centers’ (HTRC) website and other media should not be considered legal advice. The HTRC is not guaranteeing that any information provided will result in reimbursement from a payer. All materials are strictly for informational and educational purposes only. | | | | |
