Service Extension

Objective

All citizens of South Carolina will have equitable access to ambulatory care. Telehealth modalities will be used in the ambulatory setting to extend the reach of services that would otherwise be limited by travel and related barriers to care.

Example services

• Ambulatory Telehealth Visits
• Regional Telehealth Clinics
• Outpatient Telepsychiatry
• eConsults

Description

In response to the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, many healthcare providers were quickly introduced to Service Extension programs as they continued to provide patient care from afar. Remaining sustainable throughout 2021, this strategy domain carried the largest volume of telehealth in the state, serving as an easy, reliable tool to extend care beyond limits.

Callouts

• In 2021, the SCTA partnered with a referral and consultation platform to extend access to specialty care in SC through eConsults an asynchronous, provider-to-provider communication allowing primary care providers to securely connect with specialists regarding next steps in the care of a patient.
  
  
• To facilitate the use of telehealth across SC, in 2021 the SCTA continued to offer free memberships on its premium statewide instance of a HIPAA compliant telehealth platform. Over 1,600 SC providers have taken advantage of this offer, completing over 90,700 visits on the SCTA’s instance during the year.
  
  
• 980,000+ total synchronous visits in 2021
  
  
• 82,000+ average synchronous ambulatory visits per month in 2021