The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center's department of neurosurgery has received $15 million in federal funding that will allow specialists at Albuquerque-based UNM to provide remote consults at 30 hospitals statewide.
The funding will help provide the service to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries at no cost to the partnering hospital. The hospitals will also receive staff training and new equipment to facilitate the telemedicine program.
"Small hospitals provide essential emergency services in many of New Mexico's rural communities, and telehealth technologies are an effective way to expand patients' access to fast and reliable emergency care options," said Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), who helped to secure the federal funding. "New Mexico has been a leader in telemedicine, and this project is another example of how to build a medical network statewide to support rural healthcare."
The grant money comes from CMS' Innovation Center.
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