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Oak Ridge board hears proposal to expand school telehealth with Children’s Hospital
Summary
Children’s Hospital staff presented a plan to provide on-site telehealth visits in Oak Ridge schools next year, stressing quick access to pediatric care, testing and a consent-first process for parents.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education received a presentation on a proposed partnership with Children’s Hospital to provide school-based telehealth services beginning next school year, Heather Crouch, the hospital’s virtual telehealth manager, said at the meeting.
Board members were told the program is already operating in multiple East Tennessee districts and is being expanded: “We’re currently in 8 school districts in East Tennessee. We’ll be moving to 13 next year,” Crouch said. The services described include video visits with a pediatric nurse practitioner, on-site point-of-care testing for COVID, flu and strep, and the ability to prescribe and electronically send medications when appropriate.
Proponents said the service is intended to reduce missed school and work time and to connect children quickly to care when primary care appointments are not available. “Approximately 55 percent of our kids did go back to class that were seen through the program,” Crouch said, citing the program’s internal data. She also described average encounter times: “Our average wait time right now is 5 minutes … and our average visit time is 10 minutes.”
Board members asked about parental consent, billing and care for uninsured students. Crouch said the district would distribute consent forms at the start of the year and that the program “will not do a visit unless the nurse says I’ve talked to mom and she said yes.” She also said the program collects insurance information and that if a student is uninsured the clinic uses a sliding-scale fee; staff plan to help families apply for TennCare when appropriate and can refer families to legal services for appeals.
District staff and presenters demonstrated the telehealth equipment the hospital uses: an iPad-based kit with an electronic stethoscope, otoscope and pulse/pressure attachments that can be moved between school clinics. Crouch said school nurses retain the clinical relationship and that the telehealth visit supplements, rather than replaces, a child’s primary care provider.
No formal board action was taken on the proposal during the meeting. Board members said they would deliberate on logistics and next steps once staff provide follow-up details.
Ending
Presenters urged that telehealth could reduce preventable emergency-room visits and help keep students in class. The district will consider the operational and consent details described by Children’s Hospital staff before deciding whether to implement the program districtwide next school year.
