Penn State's solution for addressing forensic examiner shortage: Telehealth
Summary
Now imagine as a patient what that experience must be like,” Sheridan Miyamoto, director of the Penn State Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) Center, told Fierce Healthcare. “We are adding in a second expert and a layer of quality where the focus is what’s best for the patient.” The Massachusetts Department of Public Health was the first agency to launch a national telenursing center to support on-site nurses performing sexual assault exams. The center, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justices Office for Victims of Crime, provides telehealth services to survivors of sexual assault in six communities in California, Arizona and Massachusetts. Miyamoto started her work in this area almost two decades ago at UC Davis where she helped establish a telehealth consultation program for clinicians at rural hospitals to improve forensic exams. St. Peters Health Partners in Albany, New York recently launched a telehealth program in partnership with United Concierge Medicine to improve medical care for sexual assault survivors.