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| Vol. 21, No. 10 |
| June 1, 1999 |
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UT-Houston Brings Telemedicine to Hidalgo County Three grants totaling more than $380,000 will allow physicians from The University of Texas-Houston Medical School to provide their expertise to patients hundreds of miles away in Hidalgo County. The grant funds will pay for telecommunications equipment and infrastructure linking doctors and patients by computer in real time. Kathleen Becan-McBride, Ed.D., MT (ASCP), director of the Community Outreach and Education office at the UT-Houston Health Science Center and professor in the family practice department at the medical school, says one telemedicine unit will be placed in the Medical Mobile Clinic vehicle, which drives to colonias (rural tenements) and remote areas of Hidalgo County that don't otherwise have access to health care because of economic, cultural or geographical barriers. "These grants are allowing the latest in computer technology to be used in an area that hasn't had access to any kind of medical care in the past," says Becan-McBride. "It gives the term `house calls' a whole new meaning." The General Services Commission State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) provided two grants totaling $238,860 for two teleconferencing units: one for the Mobile Clinic, and the other for specialists at the UT-Houston Medical School. Other equipment purchased with the funds include a satellite array for linking the two units, four months of satellite usage time, and peripheral medical devices like otoscopes and retinal scanners for the Mobile Clinic. Becan-McBride says they can now serve remote areas that don't have any other telecommunication connections. The third grant, awarded by the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF), was for $141,806. It will pay for installation of a dedicated T-1 network line, connecting colonia residents to the Hidalgo County Health Department and the UT-Houston Medical School. The Mobile Clinic, a collaboration between UT-Houston Health Science Center and the Hidalgo County Health De-partment, has served over 34,000 colonia residents along the Texas-Mexico border since its inception 10 years ago. In March 1999 alone, 671 patients were seen. "The overall impact of this telemedicine program is to provide not only primary health care, but also much-needed secondary health care to Hidalgo County residents," says Becan-McBride. "If we reach those in need before their conditions evolve into more serious - and costly - health problems, we are offering potential savings to the state of Texas." The new telemedicine program begins in May. - LISA GARVIN
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