Providing Rural and Underserved Communities in Texas with Access to Expert Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Through the Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center

Attendees of this presentation will learn about the Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center (Tex-TRAC) in connecting Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) with hospital clinicians in rural and underserved communities through a Telehealth cart by using a trauma-informed model for patient survivors and hospital clinicians, lessons learned, and challenges of implementing TeleSANE in rural hospitals.

Attendees will also learn how the Tex-TRAC program directly addresses the Quadruple Aim outcomes in how the patient survivor experience is enhanced by being able to stay in their own community; improving population health by helping patients in rural and underserved communities;

The Summit theme of Interprofessional Learning for Collaborative Practice and Education will be addressed by presenters in learning about the Tex-TRAC program. The telehealth cart was created by an interprofessional team made up of people from staff and faculty from Texas A&M Forensic Nursing department, School of Public Health, Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems, Risk Management, Privacy Officer, IT team, SANE experts, Software Development Team, Advocates, and Patient Survivors. Everyone involved appreciated learning with, about, and from each other to better understand how to use trauma-informed care in treating the patient during the sexual assault forensic exam, which included the IPEC core competencies of Values and Ethics, Roles and Responsibilities, Teams and Teamwork, and Interprofessional Education.
Through this telehealth platform and our specialized software the TeleSANE is able to directly speak to the patient and hospital clinician, usually an RN in the emergency department, as well as take pictures from their laptop while providing guidance to the clinicians in processing forensic evidence.
Tex-TRAC also offers continuing education credits to hospital clinicians through ECHO-SAFE sessions, a Zoom platform created by Project ECHO. The ECHO-SAFE sessions educate the hospital clinicians on different topics that they may encounter while processing the forensic exam.
After attending this session, the learner will be able to:
1. Know what the Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center is and how it works.
2. Learn strategies for using Tex-TRAC to promote optimal health outcomes.
3. Learn how Tex-TRAC uses trauma-informed care through the medical forensic exam.
Learners will be able to use trauma-informed care in their practice after this session and will be able to understand and appreciate interprofessional activities working with multiple teams.
Active learning strategies to be used:
Learners will take part in a group Q&A throughout the PPT presentation and not just at the end of the presentation.
Learners will take part in a trauma-informed exercise with a partner in the session.
This seminar will address the following priority criteria:
Meaningful engagement and inclusion of patient, individual, family, community, and/or caregiver perspective
Measurable impact of interprofessional teams on health equity
Identification and addressing of factors beyond clinical care (e.g. social determinants) that affect the health of individuals, communities, and populations
Design to impact Quadruple Aim¹ outcomes (enhancing patient experience, improving population health, increasing value, and improving the wellness of the health care team)