Nashville, TN–The Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) has partnered with StationMD to provide telemedicine services to Tennessee residents with disabilities.
StationMD is a telemedicine physician practice that’s dedicated to providing medical care to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Through this partnership, StationMD will be able to deliver 24/7 medical care to Tennessee residents with disabilities no matter where they live in the state.
There are approximately 7,200 Tennessee residents with disabilities who are eligible to sign up and use StationMD’s services through their Medicaid Waiver program.
In the current environment where it’s estimated that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are five times more likely to contract COVID-19 and have five times increased mortality from COVID-19.
StationMD’s services aren’t just convenient—they’re potentially life-saving.
Individuals with disabilities often have complex health conditions, and the role of caregiving frequently falls on family members or direct support professionals (DSPs) who aren’t medically trained. People with IDD can’t always verbally communicate what medical issues they’re experiencing and so they end up in the emergency room with non-emergent medical issues like a urinary tract infection or a gastrointestinal virus.
StationMD offers this population a better standard of care. Not only are all StationMD doctors specially trained to treat the complex health conditions of people with IDD—which is unique to this practice—but with almost 85 percent of StationMD’s consultations, they can treat the patient’s medical needs right in the home setting. This model not only reduces the patient’s exposure to coronavirus, it averts ambulance rides and emergency room visits, which aren’t only expensive, they can be disorienting, even traumatizing to someone with special needs.
Now, Tennessee residents with IDD, their DSPs, and family members can connect immediately with a board-certified emergency doctor for any medical question and to treat any urgent, non-life-threatening condition.
This video touching video shows Gary Jennings’ experience with StationMD.
