Morehouse Healthcare Receives Award from Federal Communications Commission to Expand Telehealth Services
As demand skyrockets, new funding allows Morehouse Healthcare Telemedicine to purchase additional remote patient health monitoring equipment and software.
ATLANTA – FEBRUARY 21, 2022 – Morehouse Healthcare (MHC), established by Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) to provide quality medical care to diverse patient populations throughout Georgia, recently received nearly $1 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expand telehealth services amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Morehouse Healthcare launched MHC Telemedicine in 2018 to offer patients in rural and underserved areas of Georgia consultation and care using videoconferencing technology. Demand grew 700 percent in the first year of the pandemic as isolated patients sought solutions that could improve outcomes and keep them out of the already overburdened hospital system. MHC Telemedicine currently serves patients for family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry and behavioral health, and pre-and post-operative care.
"Morehouse Healthcare and Morehouse School of Medicine are firmly committed to serving patients with the highest quality of medical care no matter where they are located – whether that is down the street or hundreds of miles away in another part of Georgia," said Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, President and CEO of MSM. "This award allows us to amplify our efforts and be able to meet more people where they are. We are grateful to the FCC for its recognition of MSM's mission: the creation and advancement of health equity."
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for Morehouse Healthcare to leverage technology to provide optimal specialty care to patients throughout rural Georgia," said Richard A. Gooden, MBA, Telehealth Program Director in the Department of Family Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. "This funding offers us the resources needed to act on Morehouse School of Medicine President Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice’s vision of expanding our telehealth program to offer essential clinical services to patients in rural communities."
The $907,235 award from the FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program will allow MHC to purchase
remote patient health monitoring equipment and software, enabling providers to monitor patients, provide frequent check-ins, and easily conduct provider-to-provider consultations.
"This funding will help to equip patients with the devices needed to gather vital clinical information," Gooden said. "Many of these patients are managing chronic illnesses and are often our most vulnerable patients. Keeping them out of the waiting rooms and reducing their exposure during the pandemic can be a lifesaving achievement."
The telemedicine expansion is the latest in a series of initiatives undertaken by Morehouse School of Medicine and Morehouse Healthcare in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The institution has been tapped by numerous agencies and organizations to research and address the virus’s outsized impact on underserved communities. MSM has received a number of significant financial awards since the COVID-19 outbreak began, including a $1.1 million grant from the Truist Foundation in early 2021 to grow MHC Telemedicine.
Read the Federal Communications Commission press release announcing the funding here.
About Morehouse School of Medicine
Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. An independent and private historically-Black medical school, MSM was recognized by the Annals of Internal Medicine as the nation’s number one medical school in fulfilling a social mission—the creation and advancement of health equity. MSM faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care. MSM is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master’s degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit www.msm.edu or call 404-752-1500.
About Morehouse Healthcare
Morehouse Healthcare is one of the largest physician groups in Georgia, comprised of more than 150 practicing physicians and one of the state’s premier primary care and multi-specialty medical practices. All physicians are full-time clinical faculty at Morehouse School of Medicine with residents and medical students as an extension, with a focus on providing quality medical care to Atlanta's multi-cultural community. Learn more at www.MorehouseHealthcare.com.
Contact
Amanda Magdalenski
Morehouse School of Medicine
404-752-5238
amagdalenski@msm.edu