Forensic Telehealth

Brooke Batesel: TeleSANE program extends sexual assault care more quickly to rural areas.

Forensic exams have proven critical in caring for victims of sexual assault. And timeliness is a key factor.

CoxHealth emergency department staff have long conducted forensic exams, but technicians recently identified a big problem: The service in rural areas was quite limited. In some cases, they found, those seeking care following a sexual assault were transferred to facilities as far as 65 miles away.

Telemedicine technology provided a solution last fall. With aid from a $227,000 grant secured by the CoxHealth Foundation, forensic exams are available 24/7 through telehealth at all Cox EDs. The specialized care is provided by sexual assault nurse examiners. Internally, they’re dubbed TeleSANE exams.

“TeleSANE gives us the opportunity to provide the highest level of care to patients who have experienced a sexual assault, regardless of where they live,” said Brooke Batesel, a TeleSANE coordinator and assistant forensic program coordinator.

CoxHealth officials say cases of forensic exams have increased by 50% at rural sites because patients can be treated telemedically in their local clinics rather than transferred to clinics with sexual assault nurse examiners on-site.

The grant money – through the Missouri Department of Social Services Victims of Crime Act and the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crimes – funds the telehealth equipment and program staffing. An additional $363,637 grant, from the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, covers training costs at CoxHealth’s rural facilities where on-site staff administer the exams alongside a certified SANE in Springfield.