15,000 students in rural areas of Southeast Oklahoma will now have access to on-site care at school, allowing them to avoid unnecessary trips to the clinic and miss fewer school days
TULSA, Okla. and NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS), operator of Oklahoma's largest telehealth network, has partnered with virtual care company TytoCare to provide 15,000+ students across Oklahoma with virtual care. Through this collaboration, OSU-CHS worked with TytoCare to equip 13 schools with the Pro Smart Clinic. Many of the schools that are now part of the telehealth initiative did not previously have clinical staff or technology on-site; this partnership will ensure all students who attend these schools are able to get high-quality care.
The Pro Smart Clinic lets healthcare providers remotely perform most of the exams they would during an in-person clinic visit, including lung exams-using TytoCare's FDA-cleared, AI-driven wheeze and lung crackle detection capabilities-throat and ear exams, heart exams, and body temperature measurements.
This allows students who need medical attention during the school day to get what they need without requiring them to be sent home or to the doctor's office and miss school. For rural regions, which this partnership serves, this also saves parents, who could be traveling from home or work, a trip to what may be a distant medical clinic. With a 59% increase in remote diagnoses and 98% visit resolution across schools that have deployed the solution, the Pro Smart Clinic helps students get timely care, reduces absenteeism, and saves parents' time.
"One of our top priorities at OSU-CHS is to innovate and expand access to health care across Oklahoma. Embracing technology enables us to achieve this goal and to provide care to rural and tribal communities in our state,” said Mike Shea, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives at OSU-CHS. "One component of this expanded access is providing virtual care in schools. This enables students to connect with a provider to get the care they need, immediately, without having to miss significant class time. Schools are the center of their communities and keeping students healthy and in school, learning, is a win for the students, their parents, and the school system.”
Access to care can often be challenging for families in remote regions and may require a significant investment of time and resources to receive. Providing medical services, such as TytoCare's Pro Smart Clinic, directly to these communities ensures everyone has access to timely, high-quality care. The Pro Smart Clinic's user-friendly design allows school nurses or administrative staff to easily operate the clinic, making it simple for schools to integrate virtual healthcare into their daily routine without the need for specialized medical training. This helps streamline care delivery, ensuring students receive the attention they need without unnecessary disruptions.
OSU-CHS is one of more than 70 health systems across the United States, including Corewell Health and Sanford Health in the Midwest, that have placed TytoCare Pro Smart Clinic devices in rural clinics and critical access hospitals in communities across South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.
"Schools are a critical way for health systems to get care to the people who need it most, but not every school has access to a clinically trained professional,” said Dedi Gilad, CEO and Co-Founder of TytoCare. "With the Pro Smart Clinic, students in these schools are provided with advanced, on-site virtual care that goes beyond outdated telehealth carts. For the first time, students in this region can receive comprehensive physical exams remotely, empowering nurses to accurately diagnose and treat a wide range of health issues on the spot.”
Through partnerships with academic health centers like OSU-CHS, TytoCare's devices are in more than 2,500 schools across 31 states, providing access to care for students who might otherwise face travel or provider barriers. OSU-CHS and TytoCare will potentially expand to 20 schools in the region, ultimately serving up to 18,000 students.
Through unique partnerships such as this, OSU Virtual Care is a revolutionary approach to strengthening health care services in rural Oklahoma to bridge gaps and improve access to exceptional care.
About Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) is a nationally recognized academic health center focused on teaching, research and patient care. OSU-CHS offers graduate and professional degrees through the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the School of Allied Health, the School of Health Care Administration, the School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Forensic Sciences and the Physician Assistant program. OSU Medicine brings unprecedented leadership and innovation to Oklahoma's health care landscape by combining excellence in patient care with the benefits of world-class research and academics. With 27 outpatient clinics, a 223-bed inpatient hospital, and virtual health care partnerships across the state, we are improving access to high quality health care for Oklahoma communities.
About TytoCare
TytoCare is a virtual healthcare company that enables leading health plans and providers to deliver remote healthcare to the whole family through its Home Smart Clinic. With a cutting-edge, easy-to-use, FDA-cleared device with embedded AI, the Home Smart Clinic enables the whole family to conduct remote physical exams with a doctor, replicating in-clinic exams for immediate answers from home. TytoCare drives utilization rates that are five times higher than traditional telehealth services; reduces the total cost of care by an average of five percent; diverts ED visits by an average of 10.8 percent; and has a high average NPS of 83. The Home Smart Clinic includes Tyto Engagement Labs™, a proven framework of engagement journeys designed for the successful deployment and adoption of the solution. To complete its offering, TytoCare also provides the Pro Smart Clinic, for professional settings outside the home to serve rural clinics, schools, workplaces, and more. TytoCare serves over 250 major health systems and health plans in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
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Laura Werber
