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Technology Helping Reach Kentucky's Medically Underserved
Donna Veno, Governor's Office for Technology
Of Kentucky's
120 counties, 105 are federally designated as medically underserved.
Accessing specialty care often requires travel to a distant regional
or urban medical center, siphoning healthcare revenues away from
the community healthcare facility.
The
Kentucky TeleHealth Network (KTHN), with its 66 network sites,
brings specialty services to rural healthcare facilities. These
66 sites are made up of 4 training centers; University of Kentucky,
University of Louisville, St. Claire Medical Center in Morehead,
and the Trover Foundation in Madisonville. Other network sites
include various healthcare entities such as hospitals, primary
care centers, comprehensive care centers, local health departments
and mental health centers. Rural patients can access medical specialists
without leaving their local community, and their local physician,
keeping healthcare revenues in the local economy and supporting
economic development.
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The KTHN was
one of eight invited guests to participate in a nine-month process
to help the Joint Credentialing and Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations (JCAHO) redefine Medical Staff Standards pertaining
to telehealth. These new standards significantly reduce the paperwork
for telehealth credentialing, and help overcome a significant
barrier to expanding telehealth.
Most recently,
the Kentucky TeleHealth Board, which oversees the network, voted
in as its new Chairman, Mr. Dwayne Moss. Since 1998, Mr. Moss
has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the TJ Samson Hospital
in Glasgow. The new Vice Chairman, Dr. William J. Crump, is Professor
of Family and Community Medicine at the Trover Foundation in Madisonville.
Board members are: Elizabeth Hagan, Park DuValle Community Health
Center; Dr. James Holsinger, Jr., University of Kentucky; Dr.
Joel Kaplan, University of Louisville; Dr. Rice Leach, Department
for Public Health; Aldona Valicenti, Commonwealth CIO, and Dr.
Kimberly Williams, St. Claire Medical Center.
The Kentucky
TeleHealth Board is under the Governor's Office for Technology,
Office of the CIO, for administrative purposes only. For more
information, contact Donna Veno, Staff Assistant to the Board
at (502) 573-0228 or visit their Website at http://telehealth.state.ky.us.
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