CHAMP team visits UMMC Center for Telehealth

The CHAMP team recently visited the UMMC Center for Telehealth to further their working relationship and to share ideas for program development.

The UMMC Center for Telehealth is one of two facilities in the nation to be recognized by HRSA as a National Center of Excellence in Telehealth. Since 2017, the UMMC Telehealth Center of Excellence (TCOE) has used its dedicated resources to advance the overall impact of telehealth services locally, regionally and nationally. To serve the mission of the TCOE, a number of their successes have been achieved through clinical impact, publications, telehealth encounters, local, regional and national collaborations, legislative impact, and regulatory impact.  The Center for Telehealth has a very successful telemental health program staffed by four psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners who work collaboratively with physicians in the Department of Psychiatry. The telemental health program currently serves thousands of patients across the state through contractual agreements with federally qualified health centers, private clinics, community service organizations, non-profits, and schools. This service allows patients who live in rural and underserved areas the ability to access mental health evaluation and treatment without traveling long distances. For the local clinics, telehealth also lifts the burden of recruiting and retaining highly qualified mental health professionals in rural areas.