Telehealth Without Borders: Improving Access in Latin America and U.S. Territories

Access to specialty healthcare remains a significant challenge across Latin America and U.S. territories, where geographic isolation, workforce shortages, transportation barriers, and limited healthcare infrastructure often prevent patients from receiving timely care. This presentation explores how telehealth is transforming healthcare delivery beyond traditional boundaries by connecting underserved communities to specialty services through innovative partnerships and mission-driven models.

Attendees will learn how healthcare organizations, medical students, telehealth networks, faith-based organizations, and community partners are working together to expand access to care in resource-limited settings. Through real-world examples, the session will highlight how mission work can serve as a catalyst for sustainable telehealth adoption, creating lasting clinical connections long after volunteer teams return home.

The presentation will showcase strategies for delivering specialty services through telehealth-enabled programs that strengthen local capacity while improving patient outcomes. Participants will gain practical insights into building cross-sector partnerships that create scalable, culturally responsive, and sustainable models of care across borders.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the unique healthcare access challenges facing rural, remote, and underserved populations throughout Latin America and U.S. territories.
2. Examine how telehealth can be leveraged to expand access to specialty care services and reduce geographic barriers to care.
3. Explore innovative mission-based telehealth models that engage medical students, healthcare providers, faith-based organizations, and community partners to support sustainable healthcare delivery.
4. Understand strategies for developing international and cross-sector telehealth partnerships that strengthen local healthcare capacity and improve long-term access to care.
5. Evaluate lessons learned and best practices for implementing culturally appropriate telehealth programs in diverse global and territorial settings.

Key Takeaways

• Telehealth can bridge significant healthcare access gaps by bringing specialty expertise directly to underserved communities regardless of geography.
• Mission work can evolve beyond episodic care by creating sustainable telehealth connections that provide year-round specialty support.
• Medical students and/or healthcare volunteer physicians can play a valuable role in telehealth-enabled outreach, workforce development, patient education, and care coordination efforts.
• Partnerships among healthcare systems, telehealth organizations, churches, community organizations, and local providers are critical to long-term program success.
• Specialty telehealth services can improve health outcomes while reducing travel burdens, costs, and delays in care for patients living in remote areas.
• Successful international telehealth initiatives prioritize local capacity building, cultural responsiveness, and community ownership to ensure lasting impact.

Speakers

• Suleima Salgado, MBA, Chief Executive Officer / Global Partnership for Telehealth; Principal Investigator and Puerto Rico & USVI Telehealth Liaison – Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center (SETRC)
• Lloyd Sirmons, Executive Director – Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center (SETRC)