White County Schools launching a new telehealth partnership with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital to provide students with virtual medical visits and on-site diagnostic testing.
Nursing Supervisor Marcie Kinnard said the program utilizes a specialized medical kit that allows a nurse practitioner at the hospital to remotely examine a student’s heart, lungs, ears, and throat. Kinnard said the initiative aims to reduce the time students spend away from the classroom by allowing them to receive a diagnosis and prescription without leaving the building.
“We will also be able to test for strep and flu and if a student is able to stay at school, they’ll stay at school,” Kinnard said. “So say they have a sinus infection, the nurse practitioner will say it’s a sinus infection, they can stay and she’ll go ahead and call in their antibiotics.”
Kinnard said the district decided to implement the service after noticing an increase in barriers that prevent parents from picking up sick children, such as limited transportation or restrictive work schedules. Kinnard said the virtual visits will help alleviate parental stress while ensuring students do not miss critical instructional time with their teachers.
“We know that some parents they only have one car and they’re unable to come and pick their child up immediately,” Kinnard said. “We also know that there are some employers that it’s very hard for them to leave work in the middle of the day to be able to take their child to the doctor and so this helps to keep from delaying that care for them and it helps the parents out too.”
Kinnard said the medical equipment includes a digital stethoscope with interchangeable heads and a specialized temperature gauge to provide accurate vitals to the remote provider. Kinnard said the nurse practitioner can treat emergent care needs and common infections, though the service cannot be used for routine sports physicals.
“They’re right there on the screen with the provider and they’re able to hear everything that the provider is seeing and what the plan of care is, what medications they need and whether they can stay or they need to go home,” Kinnard said. “And each visit takes about 15 minutes.”
Kinnard said the program is designed to support the existing school nursing staff, who are trained to assess students but are legally unable to diagnose illnesses or prescribe medications. Kinnard said while the primary equipment will be based at Findlay Elementary, she will transport the kit to any school in the county to ensure every student has access to a scheduled appointment.
“Insurance information will be required,” Kinnard said. “We’re not in any way trying to take away from their primary care provider. If they prefer to go to their primary care provider that’s perfect. They can absolutely still do that. We’re just trying to add an extra layer of benefit to the parents and to the students so that we can get them treated sooner rather than later.”
Kinnard said the district hopes to eventually expand the program by acquiring more telehealth kits and potentially finding a provider to serve adult staff members.
“We just want everyone to know that we want to keep our kids healthy and healthy students make better learners and that’s our goal is to make sure that our kids are healthy,” Kinnard said.
Kinnard said all nurses in the district will receive training on the new equipment before the program rolls out to the student body.
