Health care providers all over the country are using telehealth technologies to enhance the delivery and support of clinical health care, mental health care, and health education.

For example, the University of Delaware’s Parkinson’s Clinic, housed at the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, uses live videoconferencing to provide patient access to out-of-state Parkinson’s specialists. Patients were previously faced with the choice of traveling hundreds of miles, or foregoing the specialized care altogether.

The adoption of telehealth continues to increase with Delaware legislation taking effect last year that requires insurers to cover health care services delivered via telemedicine.

UD’s new Advanced Telehealth Coordinator Certificate is aimed at professionals who wish to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to support and expand the use of telehealth applications within their health care organizations, and prepare for the continued growth of telehealth in Delaware and the region. The next 15-week program begins in February.

Interested individuals are invited to attend a free information session on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 6-7:30 p.m. at UD’s STAR Campus on South College Avenue in Newark, which is also where the certificate program will be held.

The program’s faculty brings together experts who have pioneered telehealth implementation in Delaware, led by program director and lead instructor Carolyn Morris, director of telehealth planning and development for Delaware Health and Social Services (DHSS) and co-chair of the Delaware Telehealth Coalition.

“The Delaware Telehealth Coalition along with Delaware’s health care community have identified telehealth training and education as the key to wider adoption of telehealth in Delaware and the region,” said Morris. “The program is designed to provide comprehensive training to equip health professionals and administrators with the tools to plan, develop, and implement telehealth programs and train organizational members in the use of telehealth for improving access to care.”

Added Morris, “Last semester, the enrollment in our first class made it apparent that there is a growing demand for telehealth in our region and an interest in learning more about using telehealth within a wide variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing, physical therapy, athletic training, health care administration and more.”

Also serving on the program faculty are Dr. Gerard Gallucci, DHSS medical director, and Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine as well as medical director of eCare for Christiana Care Health System.

Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, associate professor of nursing and co-founder and director of UD’s Parkinson’s Clinic, is also on the faculty of the Advanced Telehealth Coordinator Certificate, teaching sessions focused on implementing a telehealth clinic.

Telehealth technology solutions are applicable to a wide variety of health care settings and specialties, including emergency care, psychiatric services, rural health care, occupational therapy, chronic disease care, dental care, aging in place, speech therapy and mental health services.

Gemma Lowery of the eCare-Virtual ICU at Christiana Care Health Systems completed the program last fall. “The telehealth field is growing so quickly that I think staying updated with federal, state and local laws is one of the keys to success. This course helped provide a huge list of resources to assist with that process,” said Lowery.

As part of the Advanced Telehealth Coordinator curriculum, participants developed new business models around telehealth, or expansions of existing models, with some participants planning to implement the models for their real life businesses.

Certificate program graduate Ursula Hobbs is a certified clinical transplant coordinator with extensive experience in patient and family education. “I pursued training in the area of telehealth because I believe as health care providers we have a responsibility to utilize technology to broaden our outreach and service to patients,” said Hobbs. “I wanted to gain a better understanding of the scope of telehealth and how it could be incorporated into my practice.”

Hobbs added, “The demand for telehealth, in my opinion, will only increase as consumers and providers recognize and embrace the value of the technology.”

Offered through a partnership between DHSS, the Delaware Telehealth Coalition and UD’s Division of Professional and Continuing Studies, the spring program will take place on Tuesday evenings from Feb. 7 to May 23 at UD’s STAR Campus, 540 S. College Ave., Newark, Del.

Morris welcomes the program’s move to the STAR Campus this spring. “Last semester, with one of our sessions held on the STAR Campus at the Nurse Managed Primary Care Center (NMPCC), we had the opportunity to focus on the Parkinson's integrated care clinic,” adding, “We are excited by the potential at STAR and NMPCC to incorporate additional learning experiences into the program."

UD students and UD alumni are eligible for a discount when enrolling in this program. Other discounts include a military/veterans discount, and a group discount when two or more individuals from one business or organization register for the program. An early-bird discount is available through January 24.

For more information or to register for this program, visit the website, write to continuing-ed@udel.edu or call 302-831-7600.