For rural Georgians with no nearby clinic, a doctor may soon be a phone call away

In some areas of rural Georgia, residents suffering from chronic conditions have to drive dozens of miles to the next county to get to the nearest health clinic. But soon a doctor might be only a phone call away.

A $700,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health will allow Mercer University School of Medicine’s Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities to further develop its telehealth intervention initiative that will connect rural patients with health care providers by phone.

That means patients won’t have to travel long distances to manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension.

Clinical trials for the telehealth program already are underway, and patients seem to be responding well, researchers at the medical school said.

“They loved the fact that it’s telehealth based because then they can do the program wherever they are,” said Dr. Jacob Warren, director of the center.

Telehealth interventions served as a supplement for in-person treatment, with a focus on preventative tactics to maintain well-being.

Diabetes and hypertension affect residents of rural areas at disproportionate rates, a problem exacerbated by a shortage of nearby health care facilities, Warren said.

These conditions present at higher rates in rural communities due to multiple factors, he said, including lack of access to groceries, high levels of poverty and a food culture rich in history but lacking in nutritional value.

But both Warren and Dr. Bryant Smalley, associate dean for research and accreditation at the medical school, emphasized the importance of meeting patients where they’re at.

“This trial was building on several projects we’d done previously where we were listening to the patients and what they wanted and what they needed,” Smalley said. “It’s us coming in saying, ‘Tell us what you need. Then we’ll give that to you.’ ”

The Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities partnered with clinics in the rural towns of Metter, Soperton, Swainsboro and Vidalia to recruit patients to participate in the trial.

Four full-time health educators from the medical school provided telehealth consultations during the clinical trial, but Warren and Smalley hope to launch the program on a larger scale in about six months, with the help of the new funding. Their goal is to train other health care providers nationwide to replicate the program in their own rural communities.

“There really is a step-by-step guide for the staff members,” Warren said. “And, of course, they’re thoroughly trained, you know, in how to work with the different populations.”

State Sen. David Lucas, an advocate for rural health care, said the telehealth program would help to bridge the gap in health care options for rural residents.

“Telehealth has a place,” he said. “It’s not a panacea, but it’s better than nothing.”

Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member and reports for The Telegraph with support from the News/CoLab at Arizona State University. Learn more about Report for America at www.reportforamerica.org.

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 3:59 PM with the headline "For rural Georgians with no nearby clinic, a doctor may soon be a phone call away."