Middletown-based Community Health Center Inc. (CHC) has received a $1.1 million federal grant to start a telehealth network serving school-based health centers in rural New Mexico.
The grant was awarded under the federal HRSA Telehealth Network Grant Program. CHC and its research arm, the Weitzman Institute, were selected based on evidence-based experience providing electronic consultations (eConsults) in primary care settings.
CHC is partnering with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Presbyterian Healthcare Services of New Mexico to implement the program to provide children in high-need, severely isolated settings with specialty consults in behavioral health, cardiology, endocrinology and pulmonology.
Through CHC’s eConsult platform, specialists receive referrals and provide eConsults within 48 hours of a provider request. Weitzman research shows eConsults maintain quality, reduce time for patients in need of a specialist consultation and reduce the need for face-to-face specialty visits. CHC will measure outcomes for the children in behavioral health, obesity, diabetes and asthma.