Minot Public School District is bringing an eCare program to students, allowing the school district to offer quick and efficient medical help.
eCare is the device programmed to assess the health of kids when a school nurse isn’t immediately available.
Through the use of technology, eCare offers video and audio medical visits for students to expand healthcare delivery in schools.
Currently, there are four school nurses in the Minot school district providing assessments for all the students.
With this new technology, students will have access to other qualified practitioners when the need arises.
Avel eCare School Health Director, Sheila Freed says the program assesses but will not diagnose any condition.
“Our equipment can look into the ears. We can look into a throat, take a temperature, listen to a heart and lungs. So we never diagnose a cause, it’s just a matter of giving parents a little bit more information so that they can make the best decisions for their students,” said Freed.
Freed said the virtual visits are very much like having a face-to-face interaction with a nurse, and students who use the program will be guided by a teacher or designated adult where necessary.
She assured information collected is safe and treated as confidential.
“It’s all HIPAA compliant. We actually never put any student information into the system and then we could chat directly with Power School and so we can see if there is any health concern for the student,” Freed explained.
The eCare program has been available to schools since 2015.
Freed said it is especially useful to students with chronic illnesses or conditions because it allows for constant monitoring.
“In partnership with the on-site nurses, we’re able to take care of those students as well to keep them healthy and make them have the healthiest and most normal school experience,” she said.
Those virtual visits began Monday in all 19 schools in the Minot area. If parents or guardians have any questions, they’re advised to call their individual school principals.
