University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center Launches Teleneurology Project

AURORA, Colo., Oct. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center has been approved for Medicaid funding for a three-year project that offers persons with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease telemedicine access to University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz) neurologists with fellowship training in movement disorders. The project also provides funding for movement disorders education for Colorado primary care providers through ECHO Colorado.

"Providing the best care for persons with movement disorders requires specialty knowledge that isn't typically available in rural Colorado communities," said Dr. Maureen Leehey, MD, Director of the Colorado Movement Disorders Center. The three-year program called "Tremors & Tumbles: Better Care for Movement Disorders" was designed to educate primary care providers and help those with movement disorders—such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease—access neurology expertise through telehealth, leading to significantly better health outcomes and ensuring that people can receive the support they need and deserve without the burden of travelling long distances.

"Many people with movement disorders don't know they have a disease that can be treated. They think their symptoms are just a natural part of the aging process, but they are not. If your coffee cup shakes as you hold it, you might have a movement disorder," Dr. Leehey said.

Both Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are progressive conditions which lead to mind, mood and motor symptoms such as tremors, poor motor coordination, anxiety, depression, and thinking difficulties. In the U.S. alone, Parkinson's disease affects over one million people and their families. Huntington's impacts over 40,000 people, which is likely an underestimate. While these disorders cannot yet be cured, with proper management those diagnosed with movement disorders can have a higher quality of life.

The project is funded by Health First Colorado, Colorado's Medicaid agency. Alongside the team at the University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center, ECHO Colorado, a nonprofit that connects healthcare professionals in order to share their expertise, will manage the provider education component of the effort.

News of this project comes at a time of deep disappointment for persons and families affected by Huntington's Disease. Unfortunately, two pharmaceutical companies, Roche and Wave Life Sciences, recently halted clinical trials of gene-targeting therapies for Huntington's disease due to disappointing results. The clinical trials were both for antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), drugs that it was hoped would be game changers.

"The failure of the ASO clinical trials underscores how important it is to do what we know can be done to help persons with these movement disorders," Dr. Leehey said. "Getting people with movement disorders, and their primary care doctors, consultations with neurologists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a significant step in the right direction because research has shown people with these disorders are able to obtain a higher level of health if they have access to specialty physicians."

If you have Medicaid and Parkinson's or Huntington's disease, call 303.724.0443 or visit www.cumovement.org/movement-disorders/telehealth/ to schedule a virtual appointment with a neurologist specialist.

About the University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center
The University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center is a nationally recognized center for specialty care of those with movement disorders. Headquartered at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, CO, the center has a history of leading groundbreaking research and care, including the development of the most widely used speech therapy for Parkinson's Disease and creation of the first palliative care clinic in the US focused on movement disorders. The Movement Disorders Center has been designated a Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease and is home to The Huntington's Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at the University of Colorado Movement Disorders Center. More information available at https://www.cumovement.org.

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Erich Kirshner
Lasso Digital
erich@lassodigital or 303.921.6733

SOURCE University of Colorado Movement Disorders Clinic