Access to quality care no matter where you are
October 23, 2019
South Carolina Telehealth Alliance marks annual Telehealth Awareness Week
Everyone deserves access to quality health care, regardless of where they live. Telehealth Awareness Week (TAW) is an annual observance highlighting telehealth programs and services available in communities across the state.
This year, Gov. Henry McMaster has declared October 21-25 as the time to celebrate the accomplishments and outcomes of telehealth in South Carolina as well as increase general awareness of how this innovative way of accessing top-quality health care is crushing traditional barriers to care for patients in a rural and underserved state such as South Carolina.
“We want every citizen in South Carolina at least to know what telehealth services are available to them and their loved ones. Our legislators are supporting this because they want everyone to have access to high quality care, regardless of where they live,” said Jimmy McElligott, M.D., co-chair of the S.C. Telehealth Alliance Advisory Council. “Telehealth is providing more efficient, convenient, and many times, lower cost ways to receive care. It’s truly a win-win-win for the citizens of South Carolina.”
Half of South Carolina’s residents live in areas without a sufficient number of health care providers, so to combat this, the South Carolina General Assembly provides full financial support for growing telehealth services across the state. Telehealth applications and tools, such as virtual or online care provider visits provide access to high-quality health care closer to home and sometimes from right within the home via a desktop computer or smartphone. In many cases, patients are able to stay in their local communities or at school while receiving care through telehealth connections from larger hospital systems. This means patients take less time off from work, and it enables them to spend more time with family and friends instead of traveling longer distances to receive care. Learn more about cost efficiencies, improved quality of care and the growing patient demand for telehealth in South Carolina at www.sctelehealth.org.
About the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance
The SCTA is a statewide collaboration of many organizations that have joined forces to expand telehealth services across the state of South Carolina. Led by the SCTA Advisory Council, it provides guidance, assists with strategic development and advises on technology and standards. The SCTA was formed with founding strategic providers, including Greenville Health, McLeod Health, the Medical University of South Carolina and Palmetto Health, providing telehealth care services. For more information, visit https://sctelehealth.org/About/FAQs.
