Customer Experience

Telehealth station opens in rural Texas County

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August 25, 2020

Residents of Milam County, Texas, will be able to visit an unattended telehealth station for at least two years, thanks to a $10 million grant from Blue Shield of Texas to A&M University in 2018 to address the rural area's health care needs, according to a Texas Monthly article. The two hospitals in the county closed in 2018.

The $200,000 OnMed station is 11 feet long, 9 feet tall, 7.5 feet wide. Embedded in one wall of the telehealth station is a large touchscreen with a thermal camera that shows the heat emanating from the patient. Nearby a weight scale while a stethoscope and a handheld camera hang from above for closer visual examinations.

The kiosk is open by appointment only until early September, after which it will but be available for unscheduled use between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and eventually 24 hours.

Patients will be charged between $45 and $65 per consultation.

OnMed CEO Austin White expects as many as 15 stations to be in operation by the end of the year. The company is also working with Auburn and Tuskegee in placing stations in rural Alabama.