Michigan provider awarded grant for telemedicine in rural areas
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Indigo Health Partners a three-year grant to bring telemedicine technology to hospitals in rural northern Michigan areas. Indigo will receive up to $226,803 in matched funds to bring the technology to 13 counties.
By connecting Indigo doctors with hospital patients through a computer, the initiative aims to fill the shortage of overnight caretakers in rural areas."Hospitals in rural settings have a hard time finding night caretakers, or quality can sometimes be questionable," said Susan Willis, Indigo's vice president of clinical program development. "It’s a way to use technology to bring more doctors to these areas and offset some of those costs for smaller hospitals."
Physicians could perform a modified physical exam with the technology, using a trained nurse to perform physical tasks.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.