The TexLa Telehealth Resource Center (TexLa), based at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock (TTUHSC), is working to expand access to quality virtual care across Texas and Louisiana – and the Texas Medical Association is helping to spread the word.
TexLa is one of 14 participating in the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers. A federally funded program, TexLa offers technical assistance, education, and resources to support both new and existing telehealth programs in the region.
Earlier this year, TMA adopted policy at its annual conference, TexMed, calling for the association to “advocate for additional methods to expand telemedicine adoption, such as funding for telemedicine equipment or training programs for physicians.” Taking steps to meet this goal, TMA has updated its telemedicine webpage to include TexLa resources vital to expanding telehealth implementation, including:
- TexLa telemedicine webinars;
- A link physicians can use to sign up for the TexLa newsletter, which includes information about telemedicine funding opportunities; and
- A new form that connects physicians seeking to integrate telemedicine technology in their practice with assistance.
In August, the TexLa Telehealth Resource Center was awarded a $1.3 million, four-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to strengthen and expand digital health services in Texas and Louisiana. The funding, part of the HRSA Telehealth Resource Center Program, provides $325,000 annually through 2029, per TTUHSC. The funding will be used to support the center’s work to develop and enhance telehealth programs that improve health care access for rural and underserved communities.
“The grant is intended to help [physicians] like me in rural areas get the training we need to feel more comfortable performing telehealth,” said Adrian Billings, MD, associate professor of family and community medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. “I really appreciate academic health centers like TTUHSC in helping to provide better access to care for rural patients, and I always appreciate TMA for thinking of the needs of rural clinicians.”
Dr. Billings, a family physician in Alpine, calls telehealth “part of the solution to Texas’ access to care challenges.” Although he notes telemedicine cannot not fill every health care gap in rural areas, he says the tool “makes the loneliness of rural medicine bearable.”
“When a patient is critical in front of you, it sure helps to bring in some colleagues on a camera for clinical advice,” he said. “There can be quite a few scary moments when you’re out in the middle of nowhere, and you’ve exhausted your knowledge and resources and you just need help.”
For more information on TexLa, visit its website. For telemedicine resources, visit TMA’s telemedicine webpage.
Disclaimer: This publication is intended for general informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for physicians’ or other clinicians’ professional judgment. This publication is not intended to establish medical standards of care for the purposes of litigation, including expert testimony. The standard of care is dependent upon the particular facts and circumstances of each individual case and no generalization can be made that would apply to all cases.
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Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469