CANTON — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker toured T1 Telehealth here Tuesday in an effort to explore future opportunities to open telehealth access points throughout the state. “Mississippi is one of our nation’s telehealth pioneers. Our leadership comes from years of work to advance telehealth services and their delivery to the patients that need them,” Wicker said. “T1 Telehealth uses a unique telehealth model to serve hospital and urgent care patients. I look forward to working together to increase positive health-care outcomes, and lower the costs of administering care.” During his time in the Senate, Wicker has championed policies to expand telehealth, enabling these services to reach more people in more places. He has helped Mississippi become a national leader in developing this critical technology. In June of this year, he introduced bipartisan legislation that would expand the availability of rural telehealth services. The bill would allow non-rural hospitals serving rural areas to qualify for support from the Federal Communications Commission Healthcare Connect Fund. In 2013, Congress established the HCF as part of the Universal Service Fund to provide support for advanced telecommunications and information services for eligible health-care providers. Providers use these services to deliver telemedicine, transmit health records, and conduct other telehealth activities for improving patient care and reducing health-care costs. “T1 aims to remove the barriers to quality healthcare for patients throughout Mississippi and beyond,” T1 Telehealth CEO Todd Barrett said. “Through our work with multiple health systems, we’ve built a vast network of medical resources and experience in the telehealth space. In joining Senator Wicker on his mission to improve patient health through innovation and technology, we hope to further enhance telehealth options for our state and demonstrate how telehealth can be a successful healthcare delivery model for the rest of the country as well.”
