The Department of Social Services in South Dakota has launched a pilot program exploring the use of a telemedicine program focused on drug treatment in the rural parts of the state, according to an Argus Leader report.
The department received a $100,000 grant to help implement the pilot program from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, according to the report.
Treatment centers are often so far from rural areas in South Dakota that patients with drug and alcohol abuse problems may not be able to access the centers to receive treatment. Furthermore, judges said they often have to send drug and alcohol offenders to prison instead of keeping them on probation since they are unable to access treatment centers, according to the report.
"We need to explore this application for substance abuse treatment as a viable model to get services to people in those very rural areas where it's just not practical to have a provider there," said Amy Iversen-Pollreisz, deputy secretary of the Department of Social Services, in the report.
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