FCC commissioner: Telehealth has great potential

Mississippi, while facing a range of challenges such as healthcare affordability and access, is making strides in electronically connecting patients with doctors and resources, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said Wednesday.

Clyburn said following a roundtable discussion at Jackson Medical Mall on "telehealth," the electronic linking of doctors with patients, that large hospitals and small clinics alike throughout the state are tapping into the online world's'potential to improve healthcare in a region often worst or among the worst in the country for a slew of serious illnesses.

"We're moving the needle in terms of healthcare delivery, even if the system isn't perfect as it is today," she said. "Connectivity is critical to healthcare."

Mississippi faces a dual challenge, with its generational poverty and largely rural communities not only often lacking the money or access to quality medical care but also to high-speed Internet or even computers. Dr. Paul Byers, the state's deputy epidemiologist, didn't hesitate in describing Mississippi's issues.

"We live in the diabetes/obesity belt. And we have one of the lowest per capita physician rates in the country," he said.

But telehealth is showing signs of developing in Mississippi. University of Mississippi Medical Center operates a telehealth center which connects its doctors and resources with patients in rural areas that don't have money or transportation to get to Jackson. The service is available at a number of community health centers and schools in Mississippi's smaller cities.

Electronically based patient care is especially important as 92 percent of patients at the state's community health centers are at or below the poverty line, says Robert Pugh, executive director of the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association.

The FCC is promoting Connect2Health, a public awareness campaign stressing the role the Internet can play in healthcare. Dr. Kristi Henderson, chief telehealth and innovation officer at UMMC, says smartphones have the capability to put quality healthcare "at our fingertips," adding she's surprised mobile devices don't already play a larger role in medical care considering their widespread use in people's everyday lives.

Getting more entrepreneurs and physicians into underserved areas is crucial in making telehealth work, Clyburn said, explaining her agency seeks to create private-public partnerships with companies that develop software and other products to enhance electronically based patient care. But she said people who want to serve those communities will have to take the lead. Panelists said doctors are more readily reimbursed these days for non-office-based patient visits, which could help that practice gain more traction.

"This is not the government doing it alone. For (medical) specialties and specialists that we don't produce enough of, this technology can be vital," Clyburn said.

Contact Jeff Ayres at (601) 961-7050 or jeff.ayres@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jeffayres71 on Twitter.