October 10, 2005
Indiana business, health care leaders to assess status of telemedicine
A Purdue University expert is organizing an interactive meeting with Indiana health-care and business representatives Oct. 20 to talk about the role telemedicine plays in how the state provides quality medical services.
About 50 invited representatives from health-care systems in the state, telecommunication vendors and other state agencies will attend the Indiana Telehealth Policy Conference from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Purdue Engagement Office in Indianapolis at 6640 Intech Blvd., Suite 120.
"Telemedicine – health care that is delivered through communication technologies such as the telephone, Internet or videoconferencing – can improve service by connecting health-care services and providers to patients who may be separated by geography," said Pamela Whitten, professor of communication and Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering Faculty Scholar.
"When people think of telemedicine they often think about how it improves access to health care by providing patients living in rural settings a high quality and cost-effective way to communicate with their providers and specialists long distance," said Whitten, who started Kansas' telemedicine program through the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1995. "But, our whole health care system and patients would benefit. For example, the use of telemedicine services, such as reporting daily vitals, could help a home health patient stay out of a hospital emergency department."
Whitten said the use of telemedicine could be increased in Indiana, and that is why she is bringing this group of experts together to chart current applications in Indiana linking patients and health providers such as telepsychiatry from St. Vincent's and Riley Hospitals, and home health services from the Indianapolis Veteran's Administration. Based on these current examples, Whitten wants the group to discuss how these related technologies could benefit others that deliver health care and jointly develop strategies to facilitate deployment of telemedicine throughout the state, she said.
"We also want to hear about concerns such as preserving privacy, ensuring reimbursement, affecting patient-provider relationships and changing the culture in medicine, which may affect if and how this technology is used," Whitten said.
Telemedicine can be used in areas of health care, including radiology, oncology, cardiology, pediatrics, hospice and psychiatry. Whitten has studied, evaluated and launched telemedicine projects in rural hospitals, school nurses' offices in inner-city elementary schools, patients' homes, community mental health centers and jail settings in Kansas and Michigan. Whitten joined the faculty at Purdue in August and is now focusing her attention on advancing telemedicine in Indiana.
Support for this meeting and research project is from the Regenstrief (pronounced REE-gen-streef) Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue. Purdue's center brings together researchers from fields such as communication, sociology, epidemiology, engineering, nursing, management, pharmacy and technology to work with representatives of the health-care industry to find ways to improve access to and delivery of health care.
Based on information from this working group, Whitten will evaluate how Indiana can benefit from telemedicine services, and she will release a summary in December. She will work with the Regenstrief Center and health providers throughout the state to consider telemedicine projects in Indiana.
The Purdue Regenstrief Center is supported by three-year start-up funding of $1 million annually by the Regenstrief Foundation in Indianapolis. The Purdue Regenstrief Center is a sibling organization and partner with the Regenstrief Institute at Indiana University Medical School. The Purdue Regenstrief Center is administratively housed in the e-Enterprise Center in Discovery Park at the West Lafayette campus.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Pamela Whitten, (765) 494-3313, pwhitten@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Journalists interested in attending the Indiana Telehealth Policy Conference 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Purdue Engagement Office, 6640 Intech Blvd., Suite 120, should contact Amy Patterson Neubert at (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu.
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