The REACH Telehealth Network (all of us!) continues to find it’s way through many interesting successes and challenges, working to make our network user friendly, meaningful for families and providers, and sustainable. Here are some of the monthly activities.
Sandy Heimerl and Deb Hall went to the National Grantees meeting (Telehealth: Keeping the Flame Alive) in Washington D.C. the first week in February. There were sessions and workgroups on a number of topics pertinent to our project, from grants management, to innovations, to sustainability (multiple approaches are the key!), to successful clinical uses (telecardiology seems to be the moneymaker, but other sites are doing neurology as we may want to, and even a few are working with DD issues).
REACH Coordinating Council (RCC) Meeting Coming Up!
The REACH Coordinating Council Meeting is coming up on Wednesday March 9th, from 10:00 – 3:00 PM, at the CDD in Albuquerque. The agenda is a full one: sharing on national programs, thinking together about sustainability, and creating networking exchange on what’s working and what’s not. We are thrilled that we’ve heard from almost all of our sites, including third year sites that you all will be there! Thanks so much!
Sustainability and Medicaid:
We’ll talk more about this at the RCC meeting. We’ve put in our
first billings for telehealth services, and will know soon whether or not
they were successfully paid. This has implications primarily for sustainability,
and for accessing other primary care specialties. We are also working with
others on the state level, to encourage establishment of a written policy
on payment for telehealth through Medicaid, and eventually for other insurers.
FROM OUR PARENTS
Hidalgo Medical Center: Doralyn R Philhour
Without Telehealth our son would not be able to get the speech therapy he
needs. The time and cost of travel it would require would prohibit it. We
are thrilled with Telehealth! Sometimes during a session we get disconnected
or the person(s) on one end will freeze up but these problems are quickly
fixed. These little interruptions do not bother us because the benefits of
Telehealth far outweigh the cons of it. We strongly recommend it!
FROM OUR SITES
Zia Therapy in Alamogordo: Sherill Bodwell
The Zia staff has been busy talking with parents and other agencies trying
to sell them on the advantages of using the telehealth video equipment for
consultations. Many families and community agencies appear to be intrigued.
We hope to spark the intriguing looks, into acceptance of use, thru a demonstration
of the benefits of video teleconferencing.
The wind, rain, and snow tried but did not interrupt the reception during
the behavioral consultation session conducted recently at Zia. The parents
of the child and the Zia Staff felt that the session provided some good information
and some ideas to try to ease a complicated behavior pattern.
Zia continues to struggle with referrals as well as with a place to have a
conferencing session. We now send Richard (our director) home so that we can
hook the equipment up in his office. Sometimes, I get the feeling that he
will find clients to use the system just so he come to work late or go home
early!
Life Quest Early Intervention in Silver City: Cherry Cullen
Life Quest Early Intervention has begun scheduling telehealth consultations
via videophone to provide speech and language therapy in remote areas of Grant
and Catron Counties. Use of the technology continues to be a challenge but
we are making progress. Several staff members are looking forward to participation
in the Sleep Disorders training in Lordsburg.
Hidalgo Medical Center in Lordsburg: Jan Braziel
Clinically, Lordsburg is moving ahead. HMS had one behavioral health consult
in December, as well as Life Quest’s two consults involving speech,
OT and PT. Sangre de Cristo has hired Hasani Kadura for the Lordsburg and
Silver City sites as a Counselor. Hasani will start working in late January.
Hasani will have an office near the providers.
For training, two staff from Life Quest & one staff at HMS had HIPPA Training.
Monique Lopez will fill in for Jan Braziel, Site Coordinator, when needed.
(Welcome Monique!).
Administratively, Jan continues to support the project through all it’s
changes: new forms, working closely with Life Quest in Lordsburg, and reaching
out to the community through the transition coalition, Head Start, and the
schools.
For community outreach, a meeting was held in November with Lordsburg Schools
after the ADHD Training that was held through REACH. Participating were local
school counselors and providers at HMS. This meeting was well attended with
all providers from HMS and four from the schools present. This meeting was
very informative to the providers and information on how the school handles
evaluation was discussed in length with Kim Collard, Child Psychologist with
the Lordsburg Schools. Jan will continue to work with the Promotora’s
for possible referrals to the REACH Program.
Tresco TOTS, Las Cruces: Linda Binkowski
Tresco has just added a videophone to their outlying Las Cruces office. The
first connection was back to the Las Cruces TOTS center for a therapists meeting.
We were able to connect fast and the picture was very clear. We are talking
about having another connection with TorC for the next Therapists' meeting.
We haven’t used the connection yet for a clinical consult back to the
center, but hope to utilize it for psychology services in the near future!
Participation in the SET trainings are going well!
CARC Child Development Center, Carlsbad, Arlene Waters
The videophone is new. We haven’t had any negative remarks about it…except
these new ones are small! (but portable). We are going to expand its capabilities,
we hope to include the use of video recordings. This is in the research stages.
The home visits have been great. The parents like it because they can talk
to someone by themselves; it’s private. It’s also helped to transition
families into local care. We’ve done mostly psychology referrals, but
have several nutrition referrals pending. So it seems it will help bring Carlsbad
into the service loop, and gives us a referral source. It’s also easy
for staff to use, so they can get on board quickly!
Tobosa Development Services, Roswell: Amanda Bunch
See comments from Dr. Ledman.
FROM OUR PROVIDERS
Medical provider, Dr. Judy Ledman:
Los Pasitos in Roswell has been serving a child with a severe brain disorder
associated with significant developmental delay and vision impairment. The
Los Pasitos staff did an evaluation and IFSP, but the child’s mother
had many questions about the underlying medical condition. The service coordinator
contacted REACH and requested a medical consultation via teleconference, and
a meeting between the family and an ECEP physician was arranged. Details of
the mother’s questions and the available medical records were provided
prior to the meeting, giving the physician an opportunity to research information
about a rare, complex medical condition with several different types and several
inheritance patterns. The child’s service coordinator accompanied the
mother and child to the meeting to give the family support. During the meeting,
the visual feedback helped the physician evaluate whether the complex medical
definitions and explanations were being understood and helped the mother become
comfortable enough to ask some painful questions. Seeing the mother and child
together gave the physician a personal feel for the situation and helped her
provide support to the family. The visual component added an important element
over a phone consultation, and all the participants seemed pleased with the
outcome.
TRAINING
Project SET in collaboration with the REACH Network has provided monthly seminars addressing the issues facing families and providers around intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorders. Four seminars have been presented. The next dates are 3/2, 4/6 and 5/4 from 9:00am – 12:00pm. The trainings are offered via teleconferencing in Farmington, Las Cruces, Roswell, Santa Fe and Albuquerque. For more information and to register, contact Maru Hartman at: mhartman@salud.unm.edu
REACH is offering a seminar by psychologist, Brian Lopez, on Addressing Sleep
Issues for Young Children on Friday, March 18 from 11:30 - 1:00 in Lordsburg,
Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Roswell and Las Vegas. Contact Shawne Riley at: REACHCDD@salud.unm.edu