Benefits of Telemedicine in correctional facilities

American Telehealth Solutions

A complete package

We offer a complete package. We can use existing equipment or help supply any equipment needed. The equipment can be affordably leased or purchased.

We provide all qualified licensed providers who are trained and experienced with Telemedicine. We handle all scheduling for all providers according to the facilities needs. We will also train the staff on-site to handle the equipment and assist the provider.

Benefits of Telemedicine

Safety

Traditionally, inmates requiring serious care are transported outside the correctional facility to hospitals and other care settings. This puts a host of people at risk, from the security guards to the hospital staff and visitors.

Although rare, there have been cases where prisoners have escaped or attacked their officers and hospital staff. One 2013 emergency room incident turned violent when an inmate visiting the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary fought with his security guards. He was shot in the chest and a deputy sheriff was shot in the leg. In 2001, a prisoner taken to University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas took two nurses hostage and assaulted them.

During the COVID pandemic, as correctional facilities went on lockdown and the close quarters of a prison setting drove infection numbers up, virtual care delivery helped to mitigate exposure for providers, correctional staff and the inmates themselves.

Benefits of Telemedicine

Improved Care

Correctional healthcare virtual care programs enable specialists and primary care providers to treat inmates remotely, bringing them responsible and timely care. And on-site prison PCPs and other clinicians can collaborate by video with specialists, responding faster for better prisoner care. Inmates diagnosed with a rare condition or infection can be treated by a specialist experienced in that condition even when there isn’t a provider in the area who understands it.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly half the people held in jails suffer from some kind of mental illness. Instead of dealing with an inmate going through addiction withdrawal or overdose on their own, jails can connect with experienced addiction experts at opioid treatment centers. On-site staff can also address addiction within prison communities through virtual medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and evidence-based behavioral therapy. Inmates with mental illness can receive more consistent psychiatric care, reducing problematic behavior.