The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog

When Integrative Touch for Kids started over 17 years ago, it brought a unique approach to treatment that made a difference in care and recovery for children and their families facing chronic health conditions.

The organization’s integrative health practitioners visited patients in pediatric hospital settings to help reduce stress through meditation, breath work, acupressure, massage, and more. Away from the hospital, they held healing retreats for children and caregivers, palliative care clinics, and community clinics with the goal of transforming trauma and ending isolation in illness.

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.

When Holly Figueroa accepted the role of president of the Arizona Rural Health Association board of directors in July 2022, she knew the term was only a year, but hoped she could dig deep to make changes that would help the organization’s role in rural health advocacy grow in meaning and in action.

“There was a time of transition, and I didn’t always feel that I'd have the opportunity to really dig deep into what AzRHA would like to accomplish,” Figueroa said.

From Dr. Steven Hansen’s Arizona Humane Society office, you may have heard a sigh of relief when Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Senate Bill 1053 into law on May 9. Beginning in August, veterinarians licensed in the state will legally be able to provide veterinary care through telemedicine, a care alternative many have become accustomed to on the human side of healthcare.

The overwhelmingly positive response to our recent webinar, Navigating Telehealth Legislative and Policy Changes Beyond the Public Health Emergency, resulted in many questions left in chat we were unable to address. Below, I present those questions, with answers I hope get to the heart of current areas we recognize as important areas for the future of virtual care in Arizona, the Southwest and throughout the country.