The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog, Category: News & Events

The 2023 Arizona Telehealth Policy Summit kicked off its first in-person gathering since the pandemic with more than 130 people, 70 people in-person in Phoenix, and more than 60 others viewed the live video stream from remote locations.

“This is our fourth summit, but the first one we've had in-person with a virtual option since the public health emergency,” said Tara Sklar, associate director of Telehealth Law and Policy with the Arizona Telemedicine Program and director of the Health Law and Policy Program at University of Arizona College of Law. “It’s a very special day for us.”

The Arizona Telemedicine Program and its Southwest Telehealth Resource Center were recognized by the United States Distance Learning Association as a “Trendsetter in Distance Learning” at its 2023 National Conference in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Janet Major, Arizona Telemedicine Program and Southwest Telehealth Resource Center’s associate director for Innovation and Digital Health, received the award on behalf of the ATP and SWTRC.

The digital age has presented numerous benefits for a variety of economic sectors with the health industry among the biggest winners. From faster communication between patients and health professionals to better service delivery, health organizations have seen improvements in a variety of daily operations. Sadly, the digital age is a double-edged sword, and as more health organizations use the latest technology, there is the looming threat of poor data security.

“I go to five to six conferences per year, and this was by far the most interesting, beneficial and relevant to me. Thank you for offering more advanced and in-depth content.”

This is what one attendee had to say about the third annual Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Provider Summit (SPS), held in October 2017. SPS has a track record of garnering praise like this from its attendees. That’s why the Arizona Telemedicine Program and Southwest Telehealth Resource Center are bringing SPS back for the fourth time Oct. 8-9, 2018.

In Navajo County, Arizona, Manuel Ono and his wife, Lola, sat down with me last year to tell me about their lives, and how, in their remote and beautiful corner of northern Arizona, they stay connected to the world. The Onos, lifelong residents of Winslow, have been married for over 30 years and are now happily retired, spending many of their days looking after their grandkids. But like almost half of all adults in the U.S., Manuel has multiple chronic health conditions. He is diabetic and is also being treated for congestive heart failure.

Diabetes and heart failure are just two examples of the myriad of complex conditions that send people to the hospital, keep them from the comfort of their homes and loved ones and place a large strain on our country’s over-burdened, under-resourced health care system. Thankfully for the Onos and many others like them, important technological advances and innovative public-private collaborations are helping to combat this issue, enabling patients to easily take their health care into their own hands.