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In 2003 the UW School of Medicine began using funds from a legal settlement to help establish video teleconferencing connections with rural hospitals throughout the state.
The settlement between the state of Washington and Qwest Communications yielded a three-year, $1.2 million grant to help establish a telehealth infrastructure in rural western Washington. The Inland Northwest Health Services in Spokane received a $2.7 million grant from the Qwest legal settlement to establish health-care support and telehealth systems in rural eastern Washington.
Basic video conferencing is available between UW Medicine and the Inter Island Medical Center, Friday Harbor; Jefferson General Hospital, Port Townsend; Olympic Medical Center, Port Angeles; Harrison Hospital, Bremerton; and Forks Community Hospital, Forks, Wash. Proposals are under consideration from facilities in Sequim and Anacortes.
Each site presents UW Department of Medicine Grand Rounds via teleconference. Specialized training in emergency room nursing and psychiatry also has been offered.
"The great thing about this technology is that it provides much more accessible opportunities for linkages and exchanges between health-care providers," explained Cara Towle, director of telehealth services. "Especially when [insurance] reimbursement is provided for clinical telemedicine, these systems will support local health-care systems and communities by helping to allow patients to stay in their home communities for care, a convenience which is of great value to the patient."
The Qwest settlement funds are helping to establish surgical telementoring at the Grays Harbor Community Hospital. The program, which uses the SOCRATES Telecollaborative System from Computer Motion, began this summer. With audio equipment and two cameras, the system connects a Grays Harbor surgeon with a surgeon at UW Medical Center. Both cameras are in the Grays Harbor operating room and are controlled by the Grays Harbor surgeons. One camera depicts an endoscopic image, and the other camera is mounted above the operating table. UW Medicine surgeons see the real-time images of the surgery in Grays Harbor and give advice over the audio system.
The 10 UW surgeons participating as mentors in this pilot program will be led by project leaders Dr. Mika Sinanan, associate professor of surgery, and Dr. Lily Chang, assistant professor of surgery.
"Our role as UW surgeons is to mentor the Grays Harbor surgeons during unusual or difficult cases," said Chang. "It can be any type of case in general surgery, depending upon the wants and need of the Grays Harbor patient. We are equipped to mentor both laparoscopic and open cases."
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