Telehealth Navigator Program

No one doubts telehealth holds enormous promise for expanding access to specialty services in rural communities. The delivery of specialty services via telehealth, however, requires a different infrastructure than the delivery of primary or urgent care services. With the latter, a patient can join an online queue for the next available provider. A successful specialist telehealth program, however, requires a significant level of coordination between the primary care provider referring the patient and the specialist who will furnish those services.

For this reason, the tele-behavioral health network now operated by the Care Collaborative employs local care coordinators responsible for scheduling appointments, compiling and transmitting relevant records to the specialist, checking in patients for their appointments, and following up with the specialist and the patient after the appointment. The coordinators also ensure the referring physician receives a complete report regarding the specialist consultation.

The tele-behavioral health network’s use of coordinators makes efficient use of specialists’ time to maximize the number of appointments, reduces administrative burden on the primary care practice at which the patient presents, and significantly improves patient compliance and outcomes. For this reason, primary care providers and patients give high markets to the tele-behavioral health network.

As part of its RHT Plan, the State is contracting with the Care Collaborative to deploy nurses trained as telehealth navigators to support primary care practices through which specialist telehealth services are offered. The Care Collaborative recently received a substantial award from a local private foundation to recruit and hire at least three dedicated specialists (endocrinology, neurology, and rheumatology) to provide telehealth services for rural Kansans, and these new services will be deployed using the telehealth navigator model.

For more information regarding the telehealth navigator program, please contact Jodi [email protected].

For more information regarding the Care Collaborative’s tele-behavioral health network, please contact Janet Richarson-Barce at [email protected].