The Center for Digital Health Innovation works to advance academic knowledge, technical and professional skills, and service-learning opportunities. With a focus on provider-to-patient and provider-to-provider communications, students and professionals use a variety of technologies to exchange information. The use of telecommunications in these settings aims to improve access, quality, and outcomes of care through clinical, population, and administrative services.
Why Study Telehealth AT UNH?
Studying telehealth at UNH provides students with the practical information needed to provide distance healthcare within your career in the helping profession. You’ll learn from an interprofessional group of full-time faculty who are passionate about the topic of telehealth within their disciplines and who are connected to a network of local telehealth innovators within our area.
Our curriculum currently offers a cross-listed elective course which is online only. This course is taught by an inter-professional group of faculty from CHHS. This provides a great variety of perspectives on the potential of this emerging field. Future courses may include: Telebehavioral Health, Telehealth Field Seminar and Continuing Education Seminars.
Current Courses
HHS 798/898 Introduction to Telehealth: This course focuses on the ever-changing landscape of telehealth as it relates to Health and Human Services. Students will explore topics such as rural health, digital divides, assistive technology, innovations and current practices in telehealth. Ethical, legal and financial implications of the integration of technology into the helping professions will be explored throughout the course. Students will work collaboratively at a distance to create a multi-media project focused on a topic of interest within the area of telehealth.
This course uses Open Educational Resources (OER). No textbook is required.
Learning Objectives
- Apply the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of other health care professionals to discussions and assignments focused on telehealth practice.
- Practice mutual respect and shared values in the planning and execution of the group project
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Evaluate the experience of participating as a team member in a group project completed at a distance
Featured student projects from the Introduction to Telehealth Course:
Business of Telehealth
Best Practices for Telepresence
Course REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Course Integration
The Center for Digital Health Innovation is an integral part of student learning in the growing field of telehealth. Courses such as Nutrition Education and Counseling (NUTR 610) and Practicum in Weight Management (NUTR 758) allow students the opportunity to explore the TPC space and apply their counseling skills to the telehealth model.
Telehealth Internships
After taking our introductory course, many students want to continue this experience out in the field. With an internship focused on Telehealth that it coordinated with your academic department, you’ll gain experience while making a difference at a distance through a Telehealth field internship. Our faculty also offer independent studies within the topic of Telehealth.
For more information contact Kelsey Boucher, clinical assistant professor, at (603) 862-5482 or Kelsey.Boucher@unh.edu.
Teleprecepting
Teleprecepting is the practice of telehealth combined with clinical precepting of an advanced practice nursing or medical trainee who participates in the patient care, either through telehealth or co-locating with the provider and/or patient.
Providing care via telehealth offers a distinct opportunity to pay attention to nuances in communication. As a provider, you focus on your patients' body language, eye contact, speech patterns, and surrounding environment. You whet your history-gathering skills and active listening skills. Teleprecepting exposes students, with you as their guide, to the critical role that communication plays in both developing a therapeutic relationship and gathering appropriate diagnostic information. Teleprecepting grants us the opportunity to continue to lead the next generation of providers in caring for patients across the care continuum. Regardless of whether telehealth is being used as an emergency stopgap or will become a tool for ongoing practice, we must not delay in leading the next generation of providers and incorporating students into the care continuum.
This publication is supported by the Advanced Nursing Education and Workforce Initiative, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2.8 million dollars with percentage financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Quickstart Guide to Teleprecepting
Telehealth Professional Development
The Center for Digital Health Innovation is providing a hybrid (online and in-person) telehealth professional development training program for healthcare professionals. The training is comprised of three to five asynchronous online modules, as well as an optional hands-on training. Credit hours for continuing education are available. The training is expected to be implemented in the fall of 2019.
