UnitedHealthcare, Centura Health Systems, the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) and the Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN) are partnering to implement Connected Care, a telemedicine pilot program launching in four rural Colorado clinics in 2010. The initiative was created to expand telehealth capability across Colorado and nationally, and will connect rural residents to a wide variety of providers in metropolitan areas.

“With telemedicine, the local grocer in a rural community will not have to travel four or more hours round trip to have a 15 minute follow-up exam with a Cardiologist. These types of scenarios are happening all over rural Colorado right now and result in loss of productivity in the workplace and decreased quality of life for the patient and caregivers. With telemedicine, a community member can go to the local primary care clinic and be back at work or home in a fraction of the time it would normally take”, says Lou Ann Wilroy, CEO for CRHC.

UnitedHealthcare has partnered with technology giant Cisco Systems Inc. to implement Connected Care, which will feature the latest audio and video teleconferencing technology at four initial pilot locations: Del Norte, Buena Vista, Lamar and Leadville. The rural clinics will have access to specialty physicians remotely and the patient and on-site medical professional will have an experience remarkably similar to an in-person visit with a doctor. Centura, the state’s largest healthcare system, will staff the medical professionals remotely. For insurance purposes, telehealth is the same as an office visit, so the same costs would apply.

For more information regarding CRHC’s involvement in this project, please contact Cari Fouts, Director of Communication and Development at cf@coruralhealth.org.