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The Center for Telehealth
at the Medical College of Georgia is
involved in a variety of different projects and services. For
information relating to the history of telemedicine in
Georgia, please see
History of Telemedicine in Georgia/GSTP
(Georgia Statewide Telemedicine Program).
In 1995, the Medical College of Georgia Department of
Pediatrics and the Telemedicine Center contracted with the Children's
Medical Services Program of the Georgia Department of Human Resources to
provide a pilot clinical service for children with special health care
needs through specified sites using the GSTP.
The CMS Program employed specially trained registered nurses to work with
local primary physicians and health care providers. In this project, the
CMS nurses were trained in the procedures and protocols of the GSTP. They
functioned as the attending health care professionals at the remote CMS
telemedicine sites and presented patients to specialist consultants at a
tertiary telemedicine site. This allowed the children to remain in the
care of local primary care providers in their communities, enhancing
continuity of care. The Project's initial evaluation of the use of
telemedicine to provide clinical care to children with special needs found
that telemedicine is an acceptable method for delivering health care to
these children. In 1997, the CMS Program entered into a service contract
with the Medical College of Georgia Telemedicine Center to continue the
provision of pediatric specialty services to children with special health
care needs.
The CMS Project factored into Medicare's decision to expand
reimbursement, and is responsible for the
current level of pediatric care via
telemedicine in Georgia.
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