HAVRE & THE HI-LINE TO BENEFIT

FROM TELEMEDICINE GRANT AND MATCHING FUNDS

 

Patients in 11 northcentral Montana counties, including Hill County, will get improved medical services with $1 million in financial help. The U.S. Department of Agriculture¡¯s Rural Development program awarded the Northcentral Montana Healthcare Alliance a $380,000 grant. That will be matched by $700,000 from Benefis Healthcare, according to Jack King, executive director of the Alliance.

As a member of the Northcentral Montana Healthcare Alliance, Northern Montana Hospital is one of the hospitals to share the dollars. Included in the 12 area medical centers that will benefit are:

  • Big Sandy Medical Center in Big Sandy
  • Liberty County Hospital in Chester
  • Phillips County Hospital in Malta
  • Fort Belknap Service Unit in Harlem
  • Chippewa Cree Health Center in Rocky Boy
  • Benefis Healthcare in Great Falls.

The USDA Rural Development grant funds telemedicine programs that allow some patients in rural areas to receive the same levels of service as patients in more urban areas do.

An example of how telemedicine can improve the medical services provided rurally is X-ray imaging. Technicians at an outlying hospital would process film and transfer it into what amounts to a giant fax machine, which transmits the image to Benefis Healthcare, where a physician reads that film. The quality of the transmitted image might be compromised along the way, so the physician might be reading a less-than-perfect image. New technology sends the film digitally over the Internet; and the X-ray pictures remain intact. Physicians read the exact image they would read if they were on site.

The new grant beefs up those services, collectively called REACH Montana Telehealth Network. It not only funds new radiology equipment; it provides new video technology. The video technology allows patients in rural areas such as Havre and the Hi-Line to more easily see specialists, such as cardiologists, oncologists and dermatologists. With the new grant funds, clinicians will be able to set up video equipment in an exam room. It¡¯s a clinical version of teleconferencing equipment. With that set-up, a patient and his/her primary care physician in Havre can ¡°see¡± a specialist in Great Falls, in real time.

Videoconferencing also allows healthcare providers to share in educational opportunities and meetings offered at other sites.

King said he expects some of the new technologies and services to be available before the end of the year.