RUS FUNDS ASSIST HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN EASTERN MONTANA
State: Montana
Grantee: Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network (EMTN)
Counties: Yellowstone, Roosevelt, Carter & Dawson

Prior to 1994, whenever a resident in eastern rural Montana needed specialized health care, they were sent to the nearest metropolitan area 225 miles away from home to Billings, Montana. The population of these communities is 47,717 residents. In 1992, five medical and mental health facilities from the communities of Culbertson, Glendive, Helena, Miles City, and Sidney transferred 904 patients to Billings because neither the advanced technology or the medical specialists were available to treat these patients in their communities. Thanks to interactive television, fiber optics, and funding from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), quality health care is now more accessible in eastern Montana.

In September 1993, the Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network (EMTN) was awarded a $482,910 Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant. The funds purchased video conferencing and network termination hardware for a telemedicine system which connects these five rural medical facilities to Billings for healthcare services.

Telemedicine allows a patient and primary physician in rural areas to consult with a specialist through two-way video and audio communication. It enables a physician to conduct a clinical examination of a patient across great distances and deliver their expertise where it’s needed, when it’s needed, regardless of geography. Telemedicine also reduces the high cost of health care. One such example involves a family physician whose patient had a cervical spine fracture. Unsure whether the patient needed air ambulance transport from Culbertson to Billings over 100 miles away, the primary provider was able to consult with a neurosurgeon in Billings. They reviewed the patient’s x-rays and CAT scan, and jointly determined that while the patient did need prompt referral he did not need to be transported by air ambulance. The patient was spared a $3,500 medical expense. By 1995 the number of patients that had to be transferred to specialists in Billings decreased by 25%. Over a period of 20 months, 299 medical consultations have taken place and patients have saved approximately $63,000 in travel and hospital costs. All of the physicians have been retained in the 5 communities and 1 more has been recruited into the service area.

In September 1995, EMTN connected four rural high schools separated by 170 miles to begin providing continuing education courses. The curriculum includes advanced courses which are intended to assist students to meet Montana’s new and more demanding college requirements. Additionally, advanced courses offered by two-way interactive video conferencing originating from Miles Community College 105 miles away from Glendive have enabled two nursing students to fulfill their clinical and course curriculum in the same location.

RUS funding of the EMTN’s medical link and distance learning projects has been an important part of bridging the miles to link Montana’s remote health care facilities and classrooms to the rest of the world.