Atrium Health Launches Virtual Care Clinic at Church Center  

Atrium Health has established a new virtual care clinic at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church's Community Life Center in Shelby, North Carolina.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based health system's new clinic aims to give people access to virtual visits with an Atrium Health physician or advanced practice provider. People can make an appointment or just walk into the clinic which has telemedicine equipment set up. An Atrium Health medical assistant at the Community Life Center will help the patient connect virtually to a remotely located clinician.

"For many families in North Carolina, access to healthcare can be a struggle due to the lack of primary care doctors, transportation challenges, inflexible work schedules and other economic barriers associated with poverty and unemployment," said Patty Grinton, MD, medical director of Atrium Health Community Based Virtual Care, in the news release. "These barriers are even more pronounced for residents of rural counties. Community Based Virtual Care allows our community members to access medical care within their rhythm of life."

The clinic includes several types of equipment in addition to audio and video technology, like a tele-stethoscope and tele-otoscope. Atrium Health clinicians are able to remotely diagnose and treat minor conditions like allergies, sore throat, ear pain, and stomachaches. The clinician can write prescriptions and send them virtually, as well as send their notes about the visit to the patient's primary care provider, if the patient has one.

Atrium Health is an integrated, nonprofit health system with 40 hospitals and more than 1,400 care locations. Its Community Based Virtual Care services began as a pilot program at Cleveland County's Graham Elementary School in the 2017-18 academic year. The program enabled students to receive virtual care from Atrium Health pediatricians while at school.

Today, Atrium Health Community Based Virtual Care is available at more than 70 locations in four North Carolina counties: Cabarrus, Cleveland, Lincoln, and Mecklenburg. Though the virtual care clinics are mainly located in schools, they are also available at community outreach centers, including churches and other faith-based organizations, youth clubs and a daycare facility.

"We are breaking down those barriers [to care] by meeting people where they are – in their community – to help improve health for all and provide access to high quality healthcare close to home and delivered by the expert clinicians at Atrium Health," said Grinton.

Though telehealth use skyrocketed as COVID-19 surged across the U.S. limiting in-person care, access has remained an issue for many reasons, including the lack of broadband connectivity.

Nearly half (45 percent) of 1,766 U.S. adults said that access to technology, including broadband and computers, is a barrier to telehealth, according to a survey conducted in June and July.

According to an independent research organization BroadbandNow at least 42 million Americans lack access to terrestrial broadband internet in 2021 — more than double the 14.5 million figure released by the Federal Communications Commission in 2019.

The issue is also stratified by location, with research showing that rural Americans are still less likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to have broadband at home, own a smartphone or have a computer, putting them at a severe disadvantage as healthcare becomes increasingly digital.

As both providers and patients have indicated that they will continue to use telehealth in the future, the access issue represents a key hurdle to overcome to unlock the full potential of virtual care.