Main ContentTelEmergency™
Providing emergency medical care in rural hospitals is most often cost prohibitive because of limited resources, lack of trained emergency medical staff, and low patient volume. The TelEmergency™ program, or Tele-ER®, was developed in 2003 by the Department of Emergency Medicine at UMMC to overcome these limitations impacting access to care statewide. The program links collaborating emergency medicine trained physicians at UMMC with specialty trained nurse practitioners and physician assistants at rural sites, in real time, using state-of-the-art Telemedicine equipment. This allows rural sites to provide quality, affordable medical care to patients in isolated emergency departments.
The TelEmergency system enables nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide care for nearly 67,000 patients annually across 21 remote locations. Of those patient visits, approximately 2,550 patients annually require audio/visual consultations with UMMC’s emergency medicine physicians.
Project Purpose/Vision
To provide improved emergency medical services and health care to underserved areas of Mississippi via TelEmergency.
Project Objectives
- Improve patient care
- Provide health care to those living in rural communities in Mississippi, both cost effectively and close to home
- Utilize available technology
- Provide a service to hospitals that will allow them to care for patients onsite, improving their financial viability
- Provide staff education to rural hospital staff
Current participating rural hospital sites include:
- Claiborne County Medical Center - Port Gibson, MS
- Covington County Hospital - Collins, MS
- Field Health System - Centerville, MS
- Franklin County Hospital – Meadville, MS
- H.C. Watkins Memorial Hospital – Quitman, MS
- Jefferson County Hospital – Fayette, MS
- John C. Stennis Memorial Hospital – DeKalb, MS
- Lackey Memorial Hospital – Forest, MS
- Laird Hospital – Union, MS
- Lawrence County Hospital – McComb, MS
- Magee General Hospital – Magee, MS
- North Sunflower Medical Center – Ruleville, MS
- Noxubee General Hospital – Macon, MS
- Panola Medical Center – Batesville, MS
- Quitman Community Hospital – Marks, MS
- Scott Regional Hospital – Morton, MS
- Sharkey-Issaquena Community Hospital – Rolling Fork, MS
- Simpson General Hospital – Mendenhall, MS
- Tallahatchie General Hospital – Charleston, MS
- University Hospital Holmes County – Lexington, MS
For more information:
Vanessa McCarty
(601) 815-4164
vmccarty@umc.edu