Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth, Inc.

TeleConnect Georgia for Better Health

To address poor health and lack of high quality health care in rural Georgia communities, Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth is proposing a training and outreach program for residents and healthcare providers to improve health and healthcare delivery in the state’s 91 designated “counties of persistent poverty.” Leveraging the strengths of state government agencies, the private sector, and educational and nonprofit organizations, the project proposes targeted outreach to economically vulnerable populations including African American and Hispanic communities, low-income residents, senior citizens, and at-risk youth to address poor health and lack of high quality health care.

The project plans to connect community-serving institutions, like hospitals, schools, public health departments, and physicians’ offices by expanding the applicant’s current open access telehealth network to 67 additional community anchor sites. The partners plan to raise awareness of the benefits of broadband for healthcare through several outreach campaigns and training for rural physicians, non-physician practitioners, and school nurses.

Total Award:

$2,462,975

Project Fact Sheet

Recipient Project Website

BTOP In Action

Peachy visits an elementary school in Ware County, Ga.

Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth (GPT) is using telemedicine to address poor health and the lack of high-quality healthcare in 91 of the state’s counties designated as having persistent poverty. Its BTOP-funded project, TeleConnect Georgia for Better Health, is connecting its 64 additional healthcare sites statewide to its existing network of 250 locations, such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, public health departments, and physicians’ offices.

TeleConnect Georgia has also initiated a variety of outreach and awareness-building activities to demonstrate how state residents will benefit from this new network. For example, the program offers free online education to rural Georgia physician office employees. The courses cover areas such as health information technology, computer skills, and physician practice education. In December 2011, more than 300 students were registered in the project’s online training center and over 100 individuals attended related webinars.

Additionally, TeleConnect Georgia created Peachy, a mascot to help raise awareness about this new broadband network among young students and their families. During school visits, Peachy teaches kids how to log on to the teleconnectga.com website to play games that promote healthy choices and habits. Students also receive goodie bags from Peachy, including materials for parents, which refer them to the website for more information about broadband. As of December 2011, Peachy made visits to four school systems, including more than a dozen elementary schools and approximately 5,000 first graders.

The state residents who are benefiting the most from access to this telehealth network are those who would not otherwise have access to, or would have to drive hours to see, a specialist. TeleConnect Georgia’s new network is helping patients gain better access to specialty care services, reducing the number of acute care cases and keeping patients out of emergency rooms and hospitals.

Last updated: January 10, 2012

Reports and Documents

Reports to NTIA: