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Rural Health Information Hub

Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc.

  • Project Title: Direct to Patient Tele-Behavioral Health Services
  • Grant Period: 9/01/2018 – 8/31/2021
  • Program Representative Interviewed: Bonnie Thompson, Project Director
  • Location: The Dalles, Oregon
  • Program Overview: The Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. Direct to Patient Tele-Behavioral Health Services program is seeking to increase access to behavioral healthcare for Medicaid patients in 14 rural and frontier counties in eastern Oregon. The program allows patients to install a telehealth platform on their smartphones, tablets, or computers. Patients use the platform to communicate with behavioral health clinicians via video conference or text from any location. Services available to patients include counseling, discharge planning, medication management, and supported employment check-ins, among others. Office staff can also send forms through the application to collect information from patients. The program was designed in part to overcome major transportation barriers that prevent residents of rural and frontier communities in Oregon from traveling to medical facilities, especially in the event of adverse weather conditions. The ability to communicate with providers via text instead of video also helps improve access to telehealth for patients without broadband internet services.

This project was supported by grant number G01RH32153 from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Health Resources and Services Administration, DHHS.

Models represented by this program: