Biden Administration Seeks to Expand Telehealth in Rural America

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He said that if it were easier to contact doctors regularly, many of those who hesitated would have changed their minds.

“They’re left up to them and things someone might have told them that might not be reliable information,” said Ms. Turner-Ford. “If you don’t have a current relationship with a cultivator, someone in that situation might just know who to call for a simple conversation.”

Jennifer Yturriondobeitia, CEO of Cornerstone Whole Healthcare Organization, a nonprofit in Boise, Idaho focused on improving rural health care, said the $350,000 she receives will go to telehealth for mental and substance abuse disorders. Idaho said it lacks treatment for these conditions, especially in rural areas.

Ms. Yturriondobeitia said her group has been using telehealth in Idaho since 2015. Back then, patients were going to doctors’ offices to connect with remote specialist providers. The focus now is on connecting patients with these providers from their own homes.

In Oregon, the fund will primarily help residents of the Columbia River Gorge area. Of the six counties that will benefit, five are in the vast countryside where mountain ranges form the border between Oregon and Washington. Poverty levels are high, and for some, a visit to the doctor may be an hour’s drive away. About a third of the population is Hispanic.

Director of the Oregon Rural Applied Research Network, Dr. “There aren’t enough primary care doctors, there aren’t enough mental health professionals, there aren’t enough people out there,” Nancy Elder said. He received $475,000.

Chronic diabetes is also common in the region. Dr. Elder said one way he believes the quality of care can be improved is to increase the skills of the doctors and nurses already there.

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