University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center is partnering with Five Star Bank to launch health stations that will connect rural patients with live, on-demand telehealth visits.
Bank locations in Steuben and Seneca Counties in New York will install the Higi health stations that track patients' key health indicators such as blood pressure and weight. The health system selected bank branches in areas where residents have limited access to healthcare and internet service, according to a Nov. 9 Five Star Bank news release.
URMC will launch the telehealth services at the health stations in early 2024.
"Our goal is to provide patients across Upstate New York access to care as close to home as possible, and we increasingly are applying telemedicine technology to achieve that goal," URMC Chief Digital Health Officer Michael Hasselberg, PhD, RN, said in the news release. "This approach allows us to align telemedicine care with patients' existing health providers, or to refer them to a local primary care provider if they do not have one. In some communities, a trusted financial institution may provide an ideal location for residents to access advanced telemedicine services conveniently, and we look forward to exploring that potential with Five Star Bank."