Message from SCTA Leadership

The South Carolina Telehealth Alliance (SCTA) has never been more relevant than it is today, nor has there been a time in which our collaborative activity has been so necessary. During the COVID-19 pandemic our state was well poised to respond to the needs of South Carolinians using telehealth capacities made possible by the SCTA.

The breadth of our telehealth infrastructure throughout the state was directly utilized, and also innovatively adjusted, to respond to the pandemic crisis. In this report you will see how SCTA partner organizations responded by leveraging telehealth in unprecedented and amazing ways. Telehealth has played a core role in the state’s pandemic response for COVID-19 prevention and management. The rapid decline in outpatient care that occurred early in the pandemic was mitigated by widespread use of telehealth across the state, made affordable and timely in large part by the SCTA and its partners. We will be forever grateful for all the individuals, institutions and investments that have gotten us to this point as telehealth leaders of the nation, and as prepared as we could be for this challenging year.

Going forward there will be challenges to ensuring that our state continues to optimize the benefits afforded from the advent of large-scale virtual care. We will need to band together to improve connectivity throughout the state, and efficiently follow that connectivity with robust clinical services tailored to the needs of our communities. We will need to make sure that we stay true to our mission of telehealth to improve the health of all South Carolinians, leaving no citizen behind. To that end, this year’s statewide telehealth strategy brings forth a new sense of focus, guiding our robust infrastructure and strength of virtual clinical services towards areas of greatest need. Thank you for your vast contributions that have gotten us to this point. Please join me in this call-to-action to further advance a healthcare landscape that needs us now more than ever.

James T. McElligott, M.D., MSCR
Telehealth Executive Medical Director
Medical University of South Carolina
SCTA Advisory Council Co-Chair

Kathy Schwarting, MHA
Chief Executive Officer
Palmetto Care Connections
SCTA Advisory Council Co-Chair

---

  

Dear Fellow South Caroliniaians:

As a member of the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance (SCTA) Advisory Council since its inception in 2014, I am honored and privileged to introduce the 2020 SCTA Annual Report to you. The mission of the SCTA is to improve the health of all South Carolinians through telehealth, and we have certainly done so this year. Given the complexities and uncertainties presented before us in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, our state, through the leadership of the SCTA and its many partners, was in a remarkable position to respond efficiently and effectively to the increased need for telehealth services and programs.

The importance of telehealth activity in our state has never been more evident than in 2020. South Carolina’s existing telehealth framework and infrastructure supported the rapid adoption of new flexibilities for providing care as the COVID-19 pandemic brought drastic change to healthcare delivery systems across the world. I feel it is important to summarize the growth we have witnessed over the past year. SCTA now includes close to 600 sites, and more than 40 state agencies and non-profits are actively engaged in telehealth. Without this collaboration, much of the other success would not be possible.

Specific to our state’s COVID-19 response, virtual care is now being offered in every county in the state, with South Carolinians in every county having access to online COVID-19 screenings at no-cost. South Carolina was also one of the first states in the country to offer virtual COVID-19 screenings with referral to remote specimen collection locations. More than 90,000 virtual care visits were enabled without cost to providers through the SCTA Doxy.Me platform. Additionally, as part of the state’s preparation and response to COVID-19, the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services implemented several telehealth policy changes and provided resources to protect the health and well-being of Medicaid members by ensuring ongoing access to care. This included 32 pieces of guidance that were issued in the first six weeks of the declared public health emergency.

School-based telehealth programs also remained consistent – even as students transitioned to remote learning, they still had access to the same high-quality school-based telehealth programs. One of our partners, Prisma Health, successfully transitioned its program for Medically Complex Children to provide services directly into patients’ homes, which has proven to be an effective model to meet children’s and parents’ needs. Expanded telehealth reimbursement policies have also allowed increased tele-behavioral health care for pregnant and post-partum women in South Carolina via MUSC’s Women’s Reproductive Behavioral Health telehealth program. It is clear to see that while this year presented many challenges across our state, we were already well-positioned to continue our great work in the field of telehealth and help meet the needs of our communities.

While we will certainly reflect upon the great work our state has accomplished this year, we must recommit ourselves to continuously improving our telehealth services and programs. The 2021 SCTA Strategic Plan has been optimized to focus on service-oriented strategy domains with cross-cutting support tactics in the areas of telehealth education, advocacy/awareness, technology, and quality/outcomes. This enhanced format centers around our clinical services and allows us to rethink how our tactical support efforts can improve our telehealth program infrastructure, ensure quality, and maximize value. Onward and upward in 2021!

Amanda Q. Williams
Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy and Training
SC Department of Health and Human Services