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GRECC Connect: Geriatrics Telehealth to Empower Health Care Providers and Improve Management of Older Veterans in Rural Communities

A telehealth program supports meaningful partnerships between urban geriatric specialists and rural health care providers to facilitate increased access to specialty care.
Federal Practitioner. 2019 October;36(10)a:464-470
October 3, 2019|Federal Practitioner
Camilla B. Pimentel, PhD, MPH;Megan Gately, OTD, OTR/L;Steven R. Barczi, MD;Kenneth S. Boockvar, MD;Ella H. Bowman, MD, PhD;Thomas V. Caprio, MD, MPH, MS;Cathleen S. Colón-Emeric, MD;Stuti Dang, MD, MPH;Sara E. Espinoza, MD, MSc;Kimberly K. Garner, MD;Patricia C. Griffiths, PhD;Judith L. Howe, PhD;Hillary D. Lum, MD;Alayne D. Markland, DO, MSc;Michelle I. Rossi, MD, MPH;Stephen M. Thielke, MD, MSPH, MA;Willy M. Valencia-Rodrigo, MD, MSc;Lauren R. Moo, MD*;William W. Hung, MD, MPH*
Author and Disclosure Information

Camilla Pimentel is a Research Health Scientist at the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research and the New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), and Megan Gately is a Program Manager and Lauren Moo is Site Director at the New England GRECC, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts. Steven Barczi is a Physician at Madison GRECC, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Wisconsin. Kenneth Boockvar is Associate Director (research), Judith Howe is Deputy Director, and William Hung is Associate Director (clinical) at Bronx/NY Harbor GRECC, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York. Ella Bowman is a Geriatrician and Alayne Markland is Associate Director (clinical) at the Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC in Alabama. Thomas Caprio is a Geriatrician at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center in New York. Cathleen Colón-Emeric is Associate Director (clinical) at the Durham GRECC, Durham VA Medical Center in North Carolina. Stuti Dang and Willy Valencia-Rodrigo are Geriatricians at the Miami GRECC, Miami VA Healthcare System in Florida. Sara Espinoza is Associate Director (clinical) at the San Antonio GRECC, Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in Texas. Kimberly Garner is Associate Director (education & evaluation) at the Little Rock GRECC, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Patricia Griffiths is a Research Health Scientist at the Birmingham/ Atlanta GRECC, Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia. Hillary Lum is a Geriatrician at the Eastern Colorado GRECC, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver. Michelle Rossi is Associate Director (clinical) at the Pittsburgh GRECC, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System in Pennsylvania. Stephen Thielke is Associate Director (education & evaluation) at the Puget Sound GRECC, Puget Sound VA Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

Author affiliations can be found at the end of the article. *Both authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
Correspondence: Camilla Pimentel (Camilla.Pimentel@va.gov)

Author disclosures
The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to the article.

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the U.S. Government, or any of its agencies.

Older rural veterans and their caregivers may benefit from this program through decreased travel-associated burden and report high satisfaction with these programs. Through a recently established collaboration with the GEC Data Analysis Center, we will use national data to refine our ability to identify at-risk, older rural veterans and to better evaluate their service needs and the GRECC Connect clinical impact. Because the VA is rapidly expanding use of telehealth and other virtual and digital methods to increase access to care, continued investments in telehealth are central to the VA 5-year strategic plan.18 In this spirit, GRECC Connect will continue to expand its program offerings and to leverage telehealth technologies to meet the needs of older veterans.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Lisa Tenover, MD, PhD, (Palo Alto GRECC) for her contributions to this manuscript; the VA Rural Health Resource Center–Western Region; and GRECC Connect team members for their tireless work to ensure this project’s success. The GRECC Teams include Atlanta/Birmingham (Julia [Annette] Tedford, RN; Marquitta Cox, LMSW; Lisa Welch, LMSW; Mark Phillips; Lanie Walters, PharmD; Kroshona Tabb, PhD; Robert Langford, and Jason [Thomas] Sanders, HT, TCT); Bronx/NY Harbor (Ab Brody, RN; PhD, GNP-BC; Nick Koufacos, LMSW; and Shatice Jones); Canandaigua (Gary Kochersberger, MD; Suzanne Gillespie, MD; Gary Warner, PhD; Christie Hylwa, RPh CCP; Sharon Fell, LMSW; and Dorian Savino, MPA); Durham (Mamata Yanamadala, MBBS; Christy Knight, LCSW, MSW; and Julie Vognsen); Eastern Colorado (Larry Bourg, MD; Skotti Church, MD; Morgan Elmore, DO; Stephanie Hartz, LCSW; Carolyn Horney, MD; Steven Huart, AuD; Kathryn Nearing, PhD; Elizabeth O’Brien, PharmD; Laurence Robbins, MD; Robert Schwartz, MD; Karen Shea, MD; and Joleen Sussman, PhD); Little Rock (Prasad Padala, MD; and Tanya Taylor, RN); Madison (Ryan Bartkus, MD; Timothy Howell, MD; Lindsay Clark, PhD; Lauren Welch, PharmD, BCGP; Ellen Wanninger, MSW, CAPSW; Stacie Monson, RN, BSN; and Teresa Swader, MSW, LCSW); Miami (Carlos Gomez Orozo); New England (Malissa Kraft, PsyD); Palo Alto (Terri Huh, PhD, ABPP; Philip Choe, DO; Dawna Dougherty, LCSW; Ashley Scales, MPH); Pittsburgh (Stacey Shaffer, MD; Carol Dolbee, CRNP; Nancy Kovell, LCSW; Paul Bulgarelli, DO; Lauren Jost, PsyD; and Marcia Homer, RN-BC); and San Antonio (Becky Powers, MD; Che Kelly, RN, BSN; Cynthia Stewart, LCSW; Rebecca Rottman-Sagebiel, PharmD, BCPS, CGP; Melody Moris; Daniel MacCarthy; and Chen-pin Wang, PhD).

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