ConferMED Receives $444,008 Grant from St. David’s Foundation to Provide Underserved Residents of Central Texas Access to Specialty eConsults

ConferMED™, a leading national provider of specialty eConsults, is pleased to announce a grant of $444,008 from the St. David’s Foundation, an organization supporting health and well-being in five Central Texas counties. This is ConferMED’s sixth year being selected to receive funding from the Foundation.

Grantees were selected for their meaningful impact helping underserved and marginalized Central Texas residents. Since receiving its first grant from the St. David’s Foundation in 2018, ConferMED has provided Federally Qualified Health Centers and Free Clinics in Central Texas with access to specialty eConsults, helping thousands of patients receive care to which they otherwise would not have access.

Thanks to this new grant, ConferMED will continuing offering eConsults in the region, adding a new site in Austin, and will offer a second year of Dermatology ECHO®, a live, video education and training platform helping primary care providers learn more about how to diagnose and treat common skin problems.

ConferMED’s 2022 study of the Central Texas project, published in the Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved, confirmed that patients with limited or no insurance, particularly those living in rural locations, have great difficulty accessing needed specialty care. Prior to this grant, only 23 percent of patients needing a specialist ever got the visit they needed. Interviews with patients confirmed those without insurance, approximately 25 percent of the population in Texas, face high cost and stigma when seeking specialty care.

“ConferMED and the Weitzman Institute are proud to continue our work reducing inequality and improving access to specialty care for patients in need,” said Daren Anderson, MD, ConferMED President and Founder. “This project has been so successful thanks to the outstanding partnerships we’ve established with health centers and their providers across Central Texas.”

Central Texas health care organizations receiving services from ConferMED thanks to the St. David’s Foundation grant include: Lone Star Circle of Care, Community Health Center of South Central Texas, Inc., People’s Community Clinic, Hope Medical Clinics, Sacred Heart Community Clinic, Smithville Community Clinic, and Samaritan Health Ministries.