Texas Tech Health Center receives $1.3 million grant to advance telehealth technology

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — A new grant is helping Texas Tech’s TexLa Telehealth Resource Center strengthen and expand digital health services in Texas and Louisiana.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has been awarded $325,000 annually by the Health Resources and Services Administration for the next four years. The TexLa Telehealth Resource Center is one of only 14 centers nationwide in the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers.

“Advancing telehealth technology is a core part of our mission,” said Ariel P. Santos, M.D., TTUHSC Department of Surgery chair and principal investigator for the TexLa Telehealth Resource Center. “Through our partnership with the Telehealth Technology Assessment Center, we evaluate the latest tools and share unbiased guidance on telehealth hardware and software so providers can choose the best solutions for their patients.”

Officials hope this will improve healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for rural and underserved communities.

“We are expanding into remote patient monitoring, using wearable devices to track heart
health, glucose levels, and other vital metrics, enabling providers to care for patients wherever they are,” he said. “We’re also exploring how artificial intelligence can strengthen health care delivery, particularly in rural areas, and providing webinars and resources to help institutions adopt these innovations.”

Santos detailed that this funding supports the Frontiers in Telemedicine (FIT) education and
training, which remains the focus of TTUHSC’s mission. The FIT lab also provides access to telemedicine training, microlearning and microbadging programs, credentialing requirements, and billing regulations.

“Telehealth has the power to bring quality care to patients regardless of geography,” Santos said. “This grant helps us expand that reach across Texas, Louisiana, and beyond,” Santos added that “televisits” now extend past video visits.