Michelle Carter had high expectations when she walked into the Regency Ballroom at the second national Telemedicine & Telehealth Service Provider Showcase 2016, held in Phoenix, June 21-22.
Ms. Carter, the clinical support director at Canyonlands Health Care in Page, Arizona, had attended the first Service Provider Showcase (SPS) in 2014.
“Both years, I’ve learned more and more about new and innovative ways to deliver care in the very rural communities we serve,” she said.
“For example, we have what I think is a very successful behavioral health telehealth program, and we’re beginning to expand those services out to our other sites. I use the information I get from SPS to inform and educate and prepare our providers for the changes we will make in the way we deliver care.”
The SPS Lightning Rounds were “the absolute highlight for me,” Ms. Carter said. “What a great way to see all the booths before you actually go see the booths!”
A speaker whose talk was of particular interest to Ms. Carter this year was Nathaniel Lacktman, JD, a lawyer with the Tampa firm of Foley & Lardner, and head of its Telemedicine and Virtual Care practice. Mr. Lacktman’s talk, on day two of the conference, was titled “Telehealth Coverage and Parity Laws: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities.
“My management team is always asking, ‘Can we even bill for that?’ ‘How will we get paid?’ ‘How do our federal grantors feel about telehealth,’ Ms. Carter said. “His talk provided me with information to share with my team.”
Asked what he thought of SPS 2016, Mr. Lacktman said, “What most impressed me was the sheer caliber of talent and depth of expertise the organizers assembled for SPS 2016. They were able to attract some of the premier telehealth thought leaders in the country and make them available in an intimate and approachable setting. I will definitely attend next year.”
Anne Burdick, MD, MPH, associate dean for telehealth and clinical outreach, and professor of dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, also attended this year’s conference.
“SPS offered interesting panels with informed speakers and leaders in the field, especially the legal session,” Dr. Burdick said. She also enjoyed the lightning rounds with conference co-chairs Dale Alverson, MD, medical director of the Center for Telehealth at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center; and Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, director of the Southwest Telehealth Resource Center.
“When I visited the booths on my own during the breaks, I already knew something about the companies and services they provided, and it made my conversations with the vendors more meaningful and productive.”
Nicole Bullard, RN, telehealth site coordinator with Northern Arizona Healthcare, attended SPS for the first time this year.
“I enjoyed it very much,” Ms. Bullard said. “It is difficult for me to say which speakers I liked best as they were all very informative. I found Nate’s talk to be especially interesting with his insight as to how different states word their parity laws, and which ones work, versus which ones work against the cause. Overall I felt the conference provided a renewed sense of what those of us working in telemedicine hope to accomplish.
“One thing I would add for next year, is I would like to hear more about how telemedicine is being used in other parts of the world, especially rural areas, and solutions to one of the biggest problems we face, connectivity in rural locations.”
SPS is sponsored by the Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP), the Southwest Telehealth Resource Center (SWTRC) and the Four Corners Telehealth Consortium (FCTC).
With nearly 400 people this year, attendance was up 59 percent from the first Service Provider Showcase in October 2014.
Planning for the 2017 Telemedicine and Telehealth Service Provider Showcase is already underway. Visit http://ttspsworld.com and join the SPS email list to receive timely updates on SPS 2017.
