News Release
For Immediate Release: November 24, 2009
Contact Person: Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, 301-334-7730
Health Department Receives Telehealth Research Grant
The Garrett County Health Department's Telehealth Program has been awarded funding to participate in a research project with the University of Maryland 's School of Medicine . Pictured above left to right are Dr. Shiraz I. Mishra, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Kimberly Miltenberger, project coordinator in Western Maryland; Beverly Marple, Telehealth Program Coordinator for the Health Department; and Rodney Glotfelty, Garrett County Health Officer.
The Garrett County Health Department's Home Health Agency has received $80,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities to study the effectiveness of the telehealth program in Garrett County.
The Health Department's telehealth program will participate in research done by the University of Maryland School of Medicine The college received $2.5 million in federal stimulus funds to set up a program to help improve the quality of care in remote communities. The study will evaluate chronically ill patients using telehealth technologies in Garrett County and Southern Maryland.
“We have had a telehealth program in Garrett County for five years,” said Garrett County Health Officer Rodney Glotfelty. “This grant will help us evaluate how well the program is working and allow us to improve services to patients using the telehealth program.”
The telehealth program allows patients in rural areas who receive care far from their homes to receive equipment that allows doctors and nurses to monitor their condition using remote equipment and teleconferencing. The program focuses on patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension and heart failure and will study whether home telehealth care can improve outcomes.
Medical school researchers will work with service providers in Garrett County and Southern Maryland to identify 250 patients who will participate in the telehealth initiative.
“Our staff will provide oversight to implementing the project in Garrett County , including identifying patients who will participate in the study,” Glotfelty said. “Ultimately, it is our goal to offer telehealth services as a complimentary component of home health care to all enrolled patients when deemed appropriate. We are always looking for ways to better serve the residents of Garrett County , and this grant is a good opportunity to access stimulus funds while potentially improving healthcare at the same time.”
For more information about the telehealth program at the Garrett County Health Department call 301-334-7750 or 301-895-3111.