2003: The telehealth trek begins

During its 70-year history, the University of Mississippi Medical Center has made contributions to the state, and the world, in medicine, science and education. Each month, we’ll recognize at least one of these major accomplishments.

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It has been more than two decades since UMMC linked emergency medicine physicians in Jackson with three rural hospitals through telecommunications. This was made possible by a pilot program representing the Medical Center’s first steps into the territory of telehealth and the beginning of a journey that led – 10 years later, in 2013 – to the launch of the Center for Telehealth. Telehealth videoconferencing enables patients to talk with health care providers at work or home, health care teams in different locations to consult with each other, physicians and other providers to examine patients from afar, and nurses to monitor patients remotely. All this is done in real time. In 2017, UMMC was recognized as one of only two federally designated Centers of Excellence in Telehealth, marking its status as a center for telehealth research and resources. Today, telehealth marshals chat technology and other virtual tools so that doctors can use smartphones, tablets or computers to examine, treat and monitor patients. The Center for Telehealth serves more than half of Mississippi’s 82 counties, offering specialty care for adults and children in hospitals, clinics, schools, businesses and more.