|
|
 |
|
|
Sustainability
and Cost Benefit Evaluation of the Kansas Telehealth
Network
University of Kansas Medical Center
KU
Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth (KUCTT)
Gary Doolittle, MD:
3901 Rainbow Blvd.
Kansas City, KS 66160
Ph: 913-588-2226
Fax: 913-588-2227
http://www.kumc.edu;
http://www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine/
Email: gdoolitt@kumc.edu
Network
Partners: Northeast Kansas Center for Health &
Wellness, Sedan City Hospital, Cedar Vale Hospital,
Moline Rural Health Clinic, Windsor Place Nursing
Home, Atchison Community Hospital, Smoky Hills Family
Practice Residency Program, Hays Area Health Education
Center, Hays Medical Center, Potawatomi Nation Health
Clinic.
Project
Purpose: Project will expand the Kansas Telehealth
Network, linking the University of Kansa Medical Center
to 10 partner sites in rural Kansas to improve access
to clinical specialties and sub- specialties through
telemedicine connections. A comprehensive cost-benefit
evaluation of clinical telemedicine across multiple
partner sites and medical specialties will be conducted.
Outcomes
Expected: Standard cost-accounting methods will
be utilized to compare the cost of providing a telemedicine
consult to the cost of providing both traditional
and outreach consults. Cost data will be paired with
quality-of-life instrument data. Service Area: 8 counties
in Southeast, South Central, Northwest and Northeast
Kansas, five of which are HPSAs or partial HPSAs,
eight of which are mental health HPSAs, and three
that are dental HPSAs.
Services
Provided: The Kansas Telehealth Network has been
operational since 2000 for clinical and educational
videoconferencing. Specialties include cardiology,
adult psychiatry, child psychiatry, diet and nutrition,
endocrinology, neurology, oncology, pediatric cardiology,
psychology, and rheumatology. Patient education and
continuing education are also provided.
Equipment:
All sites are equipped with PolyCom F/X Viewstations
and ATI TelePhonic Stethoscopes.
Transmission:
Dedicated ISDN T1 lines with consults conducted at
384 kbps or higher. |
|
|
|
|
