Telemedicine Updates

> ATP's Arizona Diabetes Virtual Center of Excellence (ADVICE) Receives National Recognition
The Arizona Diabetes Virtual Center of Excellence (ATP’s ADVICE Program) received national recognition at the First Annual Congressional Forum for Native American and Alaska Native Tribal Leaders and Tribal College Presidents held on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in February, 2004. The program was organized by U.S. Senators Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) and included a special tribute to Army Specialist Lori Piestewa, the Hopi soldier killed in Iraq. Her mother and father spoke at a reception at the U.S. Library of Congress. Dr. Weinstein, the Director of the ADVICE Program, was one of four invited speakers who discussed health disparities in Native Americans.

ADVICE breaks new ground in diabetes management and research. It provides podiatry services, diabetes retinal screening, and pediatric endocrinology services, by telemedicine. It has developed innovative programs in teenage education in diabetes control and obesity management. ADVICE and the Rural Health Office sponsored a state-wide diabetes roundtable video-conference that facilitated communication among many diabetes organizations in Arizona. ADVICE is funded by a federal grant from the Office for Advancement of Telehealth.

> Emergency Telemedicine Reduces Costly Air Vacs
Automobile accidents cause many injuries that result in air transports (fixed wing aircraft or helicopter transports) for patients from rural communities. Often, patients are evacuated for evaluation at a trauma center because emergency radiology services are unavailable on-site or cannot be obtained in a timely manner. It is not unusual for rural hospitals to have to employ radiologists to diagnose their cases once or twice a week. 24/7 radiology services were virtually unheard of in rural communities prior to the advent of teleradiology. Today, teleradiology services are provided by University of Arizona College of Medicine staff radiologists and radiology residents on a 24/7 basis at 22 hospitals in rural Arizona. In emergency cases, initial diagnoses can be rendered in an hour or less in order to avoid unnecessary and costly air evacuations. University physicians diagnosed more than 70,000 radiology cases in 2003. Twenty-one radiologists, representing all of the sub-specialties in radiology, participate in the program. In 1998, Whiteriver Hospital  on the Apache Reservation analyzed the number of air transports avoided by rapid readouts of neck computer tomography (CT) scans. A total of 27 air evacuations were avoided, at a savings of $182,000 for this procedure at this single site. Cost savings from having immediate access to radiology is enormous. By the end of 2004, over 40 hospitals in the Southwest will be linked to the University of Arizona for teleradiology services.

> Telemedicine Distance Learning Programs Address
Health Care Professions Shortages
Rural health care providers no longer need to leave their communities and patients to obtain the continuing education credits they need to stay current. The Arizona Telemedicine Program Network provides thousands of hours of interactive video continuing education programming. In addition, the educational programs of the University of Arizona Colleges of Nursing and Public Health offer for-credit courses over the network to busy health care professionals and students at selected locations throughout Arizona. Thus the Arizona Telemedicine Program contributes to the statewide effort to increase the number of health care providers available to Arizonans.

Surgery Grand Rounds are broadcasted from the University of Arizona to health care professionals throughout Arizona.	Busy Tuba City physicians and other health-care professionals participate interactively in Surgery Grand Rounds during their lunch hour.

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