Clemson Looks to Continue Expanding Mobile Health Outreach Across the State
The gap in positive health outcomes between those living in urban and rural areas continues to widen across the country, and
The Clemson University Joseph F. Sullivan Center is working to combat this. For nearly three decades, they have provided mobile health outreach to increase access for rural populations.
According to Sullivan Center Executive Director
"It's amazing to see just how much mobile health outreach has grown in just a couple of years," Watt says. "As a land-grant institution, we are mandated not to compete with the private sector, but to fill gaps in service and research better ways to reach the underserved; I feel our center and its partners have accomplished that in a very short time from the mountains to the coast."
Clinical encounters alone have grown 288 percent in that same decade, from 4,500 to more than 13,000, covering the Upstate and expanding into the
According to Watt, these "health campaigns" have performed cancer screenings, cardiovascular screening and education, lifestyle education and general acute and chronic care across the state.
In 2018, the Sullivan Center celebrated its 40th anniversary. It marked the occasion with a record number of mobile outreach visits, and it also celebrated the culmination of years of work to increase connectivity across the state so that rural areas and mobile clinics alike could operate more securely and efficiently. Thanks to a one-of-a-kind vehicle made possible with help from S.C. Sen.
When Watt talks about the future and any one of the many things in the works for the center, it's clear that she feels
Watt doesn't picture what one vehicle can do anymore. She pictures a fleet.
One-of-a-kind
Unveiled in
In the two years since the center acquired its solar-powered mobile health clinic, the unit has acted as a roving billboard for
"We did immeasurable homework on what we wanted because the clinic needed to be a step up for the outreach we wanted to provide," Watt said. "This vehicle has truly been a dream come true for
When parked, the clinic draws 100 percent of its power from a special solar battery system, which eliminates the noise and fumes from a traditional generator and decreases operation and maintenance costs. The unit features improved wi-fi connectivity over previous units that allows for improved security in handling patient medical records.
The clinic features flexClinic(TM) technology, so that its walls can move and convert the main clinic into a space comprised of anywhere from one to five rooms. The clinic can be used as one large patient education room that fits 20 or a combination of rooms that serve lab, reception and exam room needs.
State impact one patient at a time
Watt ultimately credits much of the Sullivan Center's success to S.C. Sen.
"It's critical that the state make it possible for organizations like the Sullivan Center to bring health care to folks who need it most," said
According to the Mobile Health Map, a research network comprising organizations that run mobile health clinics, there are an estimated 2,000 mobile clinics located across the country. Data from many of those clinics reveals that mobile clinics provide accessible care at a cheaper cost to health care systems than emergency department visits; the group estimates that each mobile clinic results in 600 fewer emergency department visits every year.
Mobile clinics serve mostly uninsured, minority populations in both rural and urban areas. On average, mobile clinics save 65 quality-adjusted years of life during every year of operation. Each patient served saves an average of
The patients aren't the only ones benefitting. Health care systems enjoy more "bang for their buck" with mobile clinics. The Mobile Health Map reports that an analysis on return on investment for mobile clinics shows that for every
The proven benefits that mobile clinics have had across the nation are why Alexander and Watt have been happy to see the center not limiting itself to Upstate counties. The staff's "clinic campaigns" held in conjunction with other mobile clinics have stretched as far as the Lowcountry, and the center welcomes other mobile partnerships in the future.
"We treat and educate patients," Kyle said. "We take care of the immediate needs and put them on a path to better health."
Working together
A fleet of vehicles and a secure wi-fi connection doesn't count for much if that connection is unreliable or nonexistent. While the center gears up for continued growth, it has already remedied the issue thanks to efforts to bring high speed broadband technology to 102 health care sites across the state. In summer 2018,
The funding streamlines the way mobile clinics operate in rural areas. It also provides an economic boost to
"Previously, technology tied our hands," Watt said. "If patients came steadily, we could make it work, but if many came at once we often couldn't see them because of delays in service. A more stable connection has changed all of that so that we can see more patients."
"This is another reason to bring MUSC and
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