Four South Carolina prisons will soon offer telehealth services to inmates through a program implemented with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Using a telemedicine platform, MUSC clinicians will be able to remotely monitor and interact with inmates hundreds of miles away from the medical center.
In a public filing announcing the partnership, Bryan Stirling, corrections director for the participating prisons, said the program will promote public safety by limiting offenders being transported to receive care and will also offset costs for taxpayers. The South Carolina Department of Corrections holds more than 20,000 offenders, according to the statement.
"The technologies, when wisely applied, can transcend the significant challenges in providing care to this population and have tremendous potential for cost savings to our state," James McElligot, MD, telehealth medical director for MUSC, said in the filing. "This effort is yet another example of how our state legislature's vision and support has enabled telehealth services to be developed and deployed efficiently."
Similar programs are in place in states like Texas, Florida, Colorado and Mississippi, according to a report from The Charleston Post Courier, and research has concluded that telehealth use in prisons can significantly lower prison healthcare spending.