Amid a maternal and infant care crisis brewing in rural America, some hospitals are banding together to ensure vital access to care is not disrupted. One of the key tools being used to enhance care access is telehealth, reports mHealth Intelligence.
An informal partnership between San Juan Regional Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital has been ongoing for years, with San Juan Regional clinicians often calling Presbyterian specialists over the phone to discuss patient care, said Brad Scoggins, DO, pediatrician and medical director at San Juan Regional.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pushed the partnership into a more formal, video-based arrangement.
More than half of rural counties have no hospital-based obstetrical services, resulting in more than 50 percent of rural women traveling more than 30 minutes to the nearest facility offering these services, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund in 2021.
A study published in 2022 in Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology notes that the lack of maternal healthcare access in rural areas can result in “several adverse maternal and infant outcomes including premature birth, low birth weight, out of hospital births, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, and increased risk of postpartum depression.”
To address the lack of neonatal intensive care access and provide higher-acuity care for newborns, San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, struck a telehealth partnership with Presbyterian Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team. According to leaders from both organizations, the partnership has bolstered neonatal care in Farmington. Read more.
