The telehealth setup at Pottsboro Public Library has strong lighting, allowing physicians to view their patients clearly. Photo credit: Pottsboro Public Library
Libraries as Telehealth Providers A RURAL CASE STUDY
By Michele Chan Santos FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES, TELEMEDICINE IS BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER BEFORE. In a time when the COVID-19 pandemic made many physician appointments virtual, and when many small towns lack health care providers, access to a strong internet signal and a computer may mean the difference between consulting a physician or not seeing one at all. The Pottsboro Public Library, in tiny Pottsboro, Texas (population 2,500), is piloting a telemedicine program that could be a model for many rural communities around the state and the nation. Lessons learned in Pottsboro can be applied to telemedicine efforts at libraries in any community, even on a much smaller scale. Resources and grants used to launch this effort are available to other libraries as well. The genesis of this effort began when Dianne Connery, special projects
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librarian in Pottsboro, realized that many people were coming into the library to have virtual appointments with their physicians on the library computers. “Because of the lack of internet in our area, we have stayed open throughout the whole pandemic,” Connery said. When she realized patrons were talking about personal health concerns, “I would put people in my office so they could have privacy for those conversations.” Fast forward a few months, and thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Network of the National Library of Medicine, South Central Region, the Pottsboro Public Library now has a room with its own entrance that has been outfitted for telemedicine visits. This former storage room has been converted to a telehealth space with a private computer, good lighting (important for telehealth visits) and a
special HEPA filter that keeps the air clean. Appointments have 15-minute gaps between them, to allow surfaces to be disinfected and the air filter to run before the next patient enters. In addition, the library has a formal arrangement with the physician practice group from the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth. Physicians there are available to treat patients through virtual visits, accessed through the Pottsboro library. The health science center serves as the managing health care partner for the telehealth visits; they have extensive telemedicine expertise and advised Connery on the equipment and processes needed for a library space to effectively serve as a patient care visit room. This is how it works: patients call a number to make an appointment. They complete their pre-visit check-in electronically (on their own device, or at
