Network Nebraska
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The Grand Island Independent: Johanns, health officials unveil new telehealth network
10/28/2004
Gov. Mike Johanns and other state and health care officials used a statewide teleconference on Wednesday to announce the formation of a statewide telehealth network.
The Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center is part of that statewide network, which will allow hospitals and public health departments to participate in telemedicine as well as continuing education for health care professionals.
The network now has 54 sites connected.
Speaking from BryanLGH Medical Center East, Johanns told people connected to the various teleconference sites that, "by this time next year, 80 Nebraska hospitals" should be connected to the system.
Eventually, 120 sites will be connected. That total will include public health departments and labs.
Six existing, smaller regional telehealth networks are being combined into the statewide system.
One of the critical components in creating the statewide system was approval by the Nebraska Public Service Commission to use money from the Nebraska Universal Service Fund to support the telehealth system. That will lower the cost to hospitals.
Each hospital in the system will contribute $100 per month toward transmission costs. A hospital might pay more if it requested more lines.
As part of the telehealth network, residents working at St. Francis Medical Center can participate in "grand rounds" directly from the hospital. At one time, residents working in Grand Island went to College Park to participate in grand rounds.
Jerrel Gerdes, chief executive officer of Franklin County Memorial Hospital, said 19 licensed practical nurses were able to become registered nurses through distance education programs offered through Bryan School of Nursing and Franklin County Memorial Hospital.
Judy Melius, a licensed mental health practitioner at Richard Young Hospital in Kearney, talked about providing hypnotherapy through telemedicine. She also has done simultaneous counseling for couples that involved a husband and wife who were at two different sites.
State officials also talked about how the telehealth network could be used during a natural disaster or terrorism attack.
Central Nebraska AHEC also has a separate grant from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation for the Hablamos Juntos -- "We Speak Together" -- program. It will train people who are bilingual in Spanish and English so qualify to work in the field of video medical interpreting.
People in the program ease communication between a health-care provider and a patient with limited English proficiency. They can provide that service either face to face or through a teleconference arrangement.
Sarah Cunningham, Central Nebraska AHEC executive director, said St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital in Hastings and Columbus Community Hospital will be the first to benefit the Hablamos Juntos program.
Marie de Martinez, St. Francis vice president of development and strategic planning, said St. Francis will first use Hablamos Juntos in the maternal care area and then in the emergency room.
Cunningham said that eventually the program will benefit Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Alegent in Schuyler and Tri-County Hospital in Lexington.
De Martinez said the Robert Woods Johnson program provided 10 grants. Central Nebraska AHEC is the only rural program to receive a grant.
Eric Jones of Central Community College said 13 bilingual students from Grand Island, Hastings, Lexington and Columbus started a medical interpreting program on Oct. 2. They will complete the CCC program next May.
Some students already are working as medical interpreters, while others are looking to enter the field.
Cunningham said the students are learning through a teleconference format taught by Mercedes Ayala from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every other Saturday.
Jones said the hope is that some medical interpreters will use the program as a "stepping stone" to other medical careers.
He said medical care for patients with limited English proficiency would improve if it could be provided by a bilingual doctor, bilingual nurse or bilingual radiological technologist.
It is not enough that a medical interpreter merely have the ability to speak Spanish and English, Jones and Cunningham said. Medical interpreters also must have knowledge of hospital care and health care procedures, medical terminology, federal HIPPA privacy rules, as well as cultural awareness and sensitivity when it comes to providing information to a patient.
http://www.theindependent.com/stories/102804/new_telehealth28.shtml
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