Lawmakers, health care leaders to hear about UTMB’s success with telemedicine initiatives

GALVESTON, Texas - As lawmakers, the health care industry and taxpayers struggle with the rising cost of health care, telemedicine is getting some renewed attention.

Specifically, the telemedicine program at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, considered the largest in the world, will be discussed next week by lawmakers and health care business leaders at a forum in Washington, D.C.

Alexander Vo, executive director of the AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy at UTMB, will spotlight a recent study that found that the widespread implementation of telehealth services could save the U.S. health care system more than $4 billion a year by reducing patient transfers and visits to doctors' offices. The study was conducted by the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a nonprofit research center based at Partners HealthCare Systems Inc. in Boston.

 Vo's presentation on May 21 will be to the Steering Committee on Telehealth and Healthcare Informatics in Room 2358 of the Rayburn House Office Building..

Vo's presentation, "The Telehealth Promise, Better Health Care and Cost Savings for the 21st Century," will be to a consortium of lawmakers, health care industry representatives who periodically conduct forums to help develop legislative initiatives and programs.

"This is a great opportunity to tell the story of telemedicine at UTMB to some of the most influential people in Washington," Vo said. "It's worth noting that the committee recognizes the leadership that UTMB has provided in this area and is looking to us for information and guidance."

"UTMB believes that the integration of telehealth into the American health care system can offer unparalleled access to high quality care to every citizen no matter where they live," Vo said. "The combination of sophisticated video conferencing, electronic medical records, proven disease management protocols and monitoring can revolutionize medical care. UTMB has seen it work. Now, the rest of America should experience it as well," he said.

UTMB has been an innovative leader to improve health care delivery to rural and underserved populations in Texas. .UTMB's telemedicine enterprise provides service to cruise ships, scientists in Antarctica, Texas prison system, offshore oil platforms as well as numerous companies throughout the state. UTMB's program is the largest operational telemedicine operation in the world, with more than 300 locations and more than 60,000 patient encounters annually.

A 2007 study, funded in part by AT&T and released in November by Boston-based Partners Healthcare System, found that nationwide use of telemedicine systems in emergency rooms, prisons, nursing homes and doctors' offices could save $4.28 billion annually. The study was also funded by the AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy at the medical branch and by grants from the Dallas-based O'Donnell Foundation and the Galveston-based Kempner Fund.