Current Telehealth Projects
Current projects at UW Telehealth Services may be categorized in two parts:
- Services in Rural Western Washington
- Services in the WWAMI Region
Telehealth Services in Rural Western Washington
In August of 2000, the Superior Court of the State of Washington for King County, in the case of US West Communications vs. Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, issued an order granting final refund disposition (No. 96-2-09623-7SEA), including the allocation of $1,200,000 to the UWSOM to support equipment, services, and digital telecommunications networks, and related administrative costs, for a telemedicine network in Western Washington. The proposal submitted by the UWSOM was accepted on January 22, 2002, funds became available to UWSOM in March 2002, and the project commenced beginning July 1, 2002.
UW Telehealth Services has proceeded both to develop a Telehealth Network in rural western Washington and to develop telehealth programs and services to benefit Network members and communities.
Rural Partners
UW Telehealth Services originally proposed to use grant funding to develop a UW Telehealth Network composed of seven sites in rural western Washington. However, through creative technology and outstanding leveraging of the Attorney General Qwest Settlement funds, the UW Telehealth Network will likely include more than three times the number of sites originally proposed. Current UW Telehealth Network rural partners include:
- Jefferson General Hospital, Port Townsend
- Olympic Medical Center, Port Angeles
- Forks Community Hospital, Forks—with links to:
- Clallum Bay Clinic
- Jefferson Mental Health
- Kitsap Mental Health
- Peninsula Mental Health
- West End Outreach
- Harrison Memorial Hospital, Bremerton
- Gray’s Harbor Community Hospital, Aberdeen
- Mark Reed Hospital, McCleary
- Mason Hospital, Shelton
- Morton Hospital, Morton
- Ocean Beach Hospital, Ilwaco
- Willapa Harbor Hospital, South Bend
- Makah Indian Health Service Clinic, Neah Bay
- Island Hospital, Anacortes
Programs and Activities
Examples of the types of programs offered during Years One and Two include:
- Surgical telementoring: expert surgeons at the UW Medical Center can mentor surgeons at Gray’s Harbor Community Hospital during endoscopic surgery.
- UW Department of Medicine Grand Rounds provided weekly via video teleconference to numerous sites in Western Washington.
- Washington Emergency Nurse Education Council 8-day course in Basic Emergency Nurse Training provided via video teleconference to numerous sites throughout Washington has been offered 6 times in three years.
- Parkinson’s Foundation Support Group meetings held via video tele-conference between Seattle, Spokane and various rural sites in Washington.
- Telepsychiatry consultation services provided by UW Department of Psychiatry to Forks Hospital.
- Specialized in-services developed by the UW Department of Psychiatry and provided via video teleconference to mental health providers in Port Townsend, Port Angeles, Forks.
- Administrative meetings, training, and case consultations via video tele-conference between the UW Regional Heart Center and Harrison Hospital in Bremerton to support a new open-heart surgery center at Harrison Hospital.
- Breast cancer tumor boards from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles via video teleconference. This project is also expected to expand geographically to include other rural sites.
- Cardiology Grand Rounds provided from the UW Division of Cardiology to 10 sites in western Washington.
- Teleradiology service from the UW Department of Radiology to Jefferson Hospital in Port Townsend, Washington.
Telehealth Services in the WWAMI Region
UW Telehealth Services also continues to support activities related to the WWAMI regional medical school program, as well as continuing educational and outreach activities throughout the WWAMI region.
Regional Partners
Telehealth partners in the WWAMI region include:
- UW School of Medicine, Seattle Washington
- University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle Washington
- Harborview Medical Center, Seattle Washington
- 8 UW Physician Network sites: Auburn, Belltown, Factoria, Issaquah, Shoreline, Federal Way, Kent/Des Moines, Woodinville.
- 18 Family Practice Residency sites throughout the WWAMI region
- UW SOM WWAMI Sites:
- University of Wyoming, Laramie Wyoming
- University of Alaska, Anchorage Alaska
- Montana State University, Bozeman Montana
- Washington State University, Pullman Washington
- University of Idaho, Moscow Idaho
- Petersburg Medical Center, Petersburg, AK
- Hot Spring County Hospital, Thermopolis, WY
Programs and Activities
Some examples of these activities include:
- School of Medicine Curriculum Committee planning meetings with WWAMI directors in each of the WWAMI states.
- School of Medicine WWAMI Peer Counseling conferences, bringing together students from all WWAMI locations via video teleconference.
- Washington Emergency Nurse Education Council 8-day course in Basic Emergency Nurse Training provided via video teleconference to numerous sites throughout Washington has been offered 6 times in three years.
- Parkinson’s Foundation Support Group meetings held via video tele-conference between Seattle, Spokane and various rural sites in Washington.
- Specialized trainings developed by the UW Department of Psychiatry and provided via video teleconference to mental health providers in Walla Walla, Washington.
- Multidisciplinary Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy weekly case conferences via video teleconference between UW Perinatal Medicine and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, with plans to expand to rural and remote sites in Washington and the WWAMI region.
- Traumatic Brain Injury educational series provided the UW TBI Project and the Washington Department of Health to numerous sites in Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming.
- A Telecardiology program between the UW Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.