HJAR Jul/Aug 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JUL / AUG 2023 37 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com Engines program. Authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the program is designed to reach geographic areas that have not fully benefited from the technology boom of the past decades. More information is available on NSF’s website at beta.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/ regional-innovation-engines and on ACHI’s web- site at achi.net/nsf. Julia Fuster, PA-C, Joins Washington Regional Farmington Family Clinic Julia Fuster, PA-C, recently joined Washington Regional Farmington Family Clinic, where she provides comprehensive care for adults and chil- dren of all ages. Fuster holds a Bachelor of Science from the Uni- versity of Georgia and a Master of Medical Sci- ence from Wake Forest School of Medicine. She previously served patients at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, High Point Family Medicine in High Point, North Carolina. Study Shows Jump in Use of Digital Health Services for Prenatal Care A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) study has found that COVID-19 sparked a big jump in the use of digital health services for prenatal care that remained higher than pre-pan- demic levels through late 2021. Published in JAMA Network Open , the study using a national database showed that telehealth use during a 40-week pregnancy went from 1.1% for deliveries in January 2020 to 17.3% for deliv- eries in November 2020, before declining to 9.9% by October 2021. “The findings could be used to design tele- health-integrated prenatal care models, but we would first need to determine the best combina- tion of digital health and in-person visits,” said Mahip Acharya, PhD, the paper’s first author. Acharya is a senior data analyst for the Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center at the UAMS Insti- tute for Digital Health & Innovation. Hari Eswaran, PhD, is the study’s principal inves- tigator and professor and vice chair for research in the College of Medicine Department of Obstet- rics and Gynecology, and director of research at the institute. The team used IQVIA PharMetrics Plus for Aca- demics, a health insurance claims database that includes commercially insured individuals in the United States. The database provided de-iden- tified information on 45,203 pregnancies during the study period. Other study findings included that those with anxiety and depression were more likely to use digital health services for a prenatal appointment, and pregnant women with Medicaid used digital health appointments at higher rates during the pandemic than those with commercial insurance. UAMS Names Shashank Kraleti, MD, Chair of Department of Family and PreventiveMedicine The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine appointed Shashank Kraleti, MD, as chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, effective July 1. Kraleti will also hold the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine. Louisiana, and Mississippi will use a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to promote improved and equitable health and eco- nomic outcomes in the Mississippi Delta regions of those states, the Louisiana Public Health Insti- tute (LPHI) recently announced. The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) is the recipient of the planning grant, enti- tled NSF Engines Development Award: Advanc- ing Equitable Access to Food and Health Tech- nologies in the Delta. ACHI will lead the tri-state effort, partnering with the Louisiana Public Health Institute, the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership, the Mississippi-based Delta Health Alliance, Mississippi-based HOPE (Hope Enterprise Cor- poration, Hope Credit Union, and Hope Pol- icy Institute), and the Louisiana-based Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The coalition intends to spend up to 18 months developing a plan for an initiative that will harness the region’s strengths to address its key dispari- ties. ACHI will then apply for additional NSF fund- ing to implement the initiative, which the coalition expects to focus on three areas: • Development and testing of new tele- health models and digital tools that can be embedded in the home and across rural clinical and pharmacy sites, taking advan- tage of modern advances in machine learn- ing, artificial intelligence, and data science. The initiative will also provide the resources and infrastructure to train and increase flu- ency in virtual care among healthcare pro- fessionals, community health workers, and patients. • Development of more effective methods for production, distribution, and accessibility of fresh, healthy food, including the develop- ment of new business models that integrate food as medicine with existing and emerg- ing healthcare delivery, and advancements in precision agriculture. • Design, development, and manufacture of over-the-counter or pharmacy-administered diagnostic materials and therapeutics, with a focus on innovations, advancements, and infrastructure that improve healthcare for underserved populations. The grant is part of NSF’s Regional Innovation Julia Fuster, PA-C Shashank Kraleti, MD