The data tell the story: Oklahoma ranked 43rd in health outcomes and 46th overall in the most recent statistics released by America’s Health Rankings. Heart disease, diabetes and obesity rates drive these numbers.

I also lead one of our state’s two medical schools and have a unique vantage point from which to view the many efforts happening to improve the health and wellness of our communities, both rural and urban. From policy changes to efforts by state agencies, foundations and hardworking physicians and nurses on the front lines, there are many laser-focused on changing the health narrative in Oklahoma.

Our institution, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, was founded in 1972 as an osteopathic medical school in Tulsa with a mission to educate physicians for rural and underserved Oklahoma. Just this year, U.S. News and World Report ranked us No. 1 in the nation for graduates serving in Health Professional Shortage Areas, known also as medical deserts and where 61% of Oklahomans live.

We also graduated our first cohort of our physician assistant program this fall, and I’m proud to say that 80% of these graduates have accepted positions in Oklahoma. Access to care — including behavioral health care — is critical to changing our state’s health rankings.

One silver lining from the pandemic is that both patients and health care providers grew more comfortable with telemedicine services. According to the National Institute for Health, a national study including 36 million working-age individuals with private insurance shows that telemedicine encounters increased 766% in the first three months of the pandemic.

Now that our lives are back to “normal,” technology continues to push the realm of possibilities when it comes to reaching across our state and providing specialty care where it’s desperately needed. Remote patient monitoring and virtual services in cardiology, stroke care, behavioral health and hospitalist care are just a few of the efforts OSU is leading to address both patient needs as well as health care workforce shortage issues.

Thanks in part to a $10 million ARPA grant and other funding provided last year, OSU Medicine is focusing more resources on telehealth services, including a pilot with a rural school district and collaborations with two other universities who are providing best practice insights we can bring to our state. And while this funding provides a tremendous jump start to these efforts, more horsepower is required to make real strides in our underserved communities.

Mental health services are an acute area of need, not just in Oklahoma but nationwide. According to a new study by the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, over 56% of Oklahomans who needed mental health treatment didn’t get it in 2022, and Oklahoma’s supply of behavioral health professionals is well below national levels.

We have a front-row seat to these issues, with OSU Medicine scheduled to start delivering virtual services in several rural hospitals in the next six months, including behavioral emergency department consults for patients suffering from mental health crises.

At OSU we’ve been pioneering telehealth services for more than 25 years in Oklahoma. Our Project ECHO model uses a hub-and-spoke, knowledge-sharing approach where expert teams lead virtual clinics on a wide variety of topics, amplifying the capacity for providers to deliver best-in-practice care to the underserved in their own communities.

Through our OSU Extension Offices in all 77 counties, we are uniquely positioned to make vital connections to stakeholders acutely affected by lack of access to care.

Educating future generations of physicians — and helping ensure they stay in Oklahoma — is a critical piece of the puzzle. But the efficiencies of telehealth services are undeniably poised to also make significant impacts on the lives of everyday Oklahomans, and we need partners to join us in our efforts.

Allowing Oklahomans to receive the right care at the right time with less disruption in their lives will ultimately help to rewrite our state’s health care story.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.