The grant will provide funding to train ultrasound technologists, which will allow UAB’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine team to see high-risk patients remotely and see the results of a high-risk ultrasound. More patients in North Alabama will be able to be seen by medical specialists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham without having to drive to UAB Hospital thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
UAB received a $200,000 grant to establish additional telehealth sites at Bibb Medical Center in Bibb County and at North Alabama Medical Center in Lauderdale County. Each site will be outfitted with three patient rooms to accommodate telehealth visits.
“This will create a telehealth hub for high-volume sites and will enable providers based in Birmingham to see multiple patients on the same day, even if the patients are not in the same clinic,” said Eric Wallace, M.D., the medical director of UAB eMedicine. “While a doctor is seeing one patient, another patient will be prepped by a nurse and ready to go once the previous appointment is over.”
Wallace says lab work has posed a challenge when it comes to delivering telehealth to rural areas. If a patient needs lab work, but does not have access to a hospital, the lab work has to be done three days before the appointment in order for the results to be ready in time. Since patients will now be coming to a hospital for their appointments, they will be able to do their lab work and see the doctor in the same day.
Another benefit of the grant is it will provide funding to train ultrasound technologists, which will allow UAB’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine team to see high-risk patients remotely and see the results of a high-risk ultrasound.
“Currently, there are no maternal-fetal medicine physicians at Bibb Medical Center or at North Alabama Medical Center,” Wallace said. “The funding will allow us to train two ultrasound technologists on how to conduct ultrasounds in high-risk cases.”
“Maternal morbidity and mortality are increasing. We hope this will improve access to care for women with high-risk pregnancies,” said Luisa Wetta, M.D., an OBGYN and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UAB. “Many women with high-risk pregnancies in rural areas are not able to take time off from work or may not have the resources to travel to UAB to see a specialist. We hope this opportunity will improve pregnancy outcomes in the state.”
Wetta and Lorie Harper, M.D., also an OBGYN and a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at UAB, will see patients via telehealth.
The technologists from each hospital will spend several weeks in Birmingham, training with Wetta, Harper and other ultrasound technologists at UAB. They will then return to each hospital with the necessary knowledge and training to be able to conduct live ultrasounds.
Wallace says he hopes the telehealth-equipped rooms will be ready for patients by the end of the year.