Members of the Carter County Board of Education will meet in a special called session this week to consider a contract to provide telemedicine services to students and staff.

During the Board’s June meeting the group postponed a contract with eMD to provide telemedicine clinics for the school system until the contract could be researched further. Board member Craig Davis said he had questions regarding whether or not the program could be used to generate revenue for the schools.

The school system first began looking into the idea of telemedicine clinics in May of last year as a way to help improve student health but since that time the program has seen some rocky times at the school system.

When the school system first implemented the telemedicine program, the system worked with a company called Integrated Care Partners. However, that company was ultimately unable to complete the program.

In April of this year, members of the Board learned ICP had withdrawn from the agreement, but another company had stepped up to the plate to keep the program going. A company called eMD Anywhere, a division of AllerVision, agreed to take on the program and began immediately working to complete the installation of the telemedicine clinics.

About $75,000 worth of equipment was installed in the schools by eMD as an act of good faith with the assumption the school system would enter into a contract with eMD.

The telemedicine system uses the Internet and video chat technology to link the nurse and patient in the school to a nurse practitioner who can work with the nurse to diagnose and treat the student, including prescribing medications such as antibiotics.