Telehealth

With
the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), safety precautions required physical
distancing measures of stay-at-home and social distancing. While these precautions protected individuals from COVID, these
precautions also created a new challenge for rural individuals in
receiving mental health care. In response, healthcare providers began making changes in service delivery for mental and behavioral health treatments. “Changes
have surrounded relaxing privacy requirements required by the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules and
increasing use of telehealth to deliver behavioral health treatment and
services,” (CRS, 2020). But will these changes be enough considering the post pandemic mental health illnesses are expected to increase (Kathirvel, 2020).

One potential answer to reduce disparities in access to mental health counseling in rural areas is telehealth (The relationship between access to mental health counseling and interest in rural telehealth, 2021). The following study will examine the potential challenges and benefits of offering mental health support in rural areas through telehealth.

Problem: Telehealth is being explored as potential tool for bridging gaps between healthcare providers and patients, yet, HC managers/leaders perceptions of telehealth effectiveness is unknown.

Aim: The focus of the assignment is to gain insight into the effectiveness of telehealth in supporting rural healthcare.

• Review the article, Telehealth in Community Clinics Three Case Studies in Implementation.
• Select one of the three presented models:
  • Open Door Community Health Centers
  • La Clinica de La Raza
  • Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers
• Identify a rural area in need of medical care for which you are familiar.
• Write a proposal to apply the identified model to your identified rural location.
• The proposal can be 6-10 pages.
• The proposal should be formatted via APA.
• The proposal should include:

• Unique Title.
• Table of contents.
• Executive summary.
• The problem statement.
• The proposed solution.
• Qualifications.
• The timeline.
• Expected expenses.
• How project success will be measured.
• Expected challenges.