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Subject: Re: [ihc] States Seek Emergency Medical Compacts
I'm just wondering what you do - if as you are lying on the oerating table - peering into the video camera, you see Robin Williams in a mask and gown smiling down at you from the monitor....? DW Rex Brooks wrote: > Thanks, Ed, > > This fits right into the work I am doing building a portal to > demonstrate CAP and WSRP at XML 2004. I forwarded this to the > Emergency Management TC and the Medical Working Group of the Web3D > Consortium. > > Ciao, > Rex > > At 1:34 PM -0500 9/13/04, Ed Dodds wrote: > >> /States develop technology to share medical expertise/ >> By Kathleen Murphy - September 2004 > >> Arizona doctors can provide medical services to patients more than >> 2,600 miles away in Panama through a state-funded program that uses >> videoconferencing and digital technology. But consultations for >> patients in neighboring states are rarely allowed. >> >> "We can consult in Panama, but not Utah," said Sandy Beinar, >> associate director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program >> <http://www.telemedicine.arizona.edu/>. Most states prohibit >> out-of-state physicians from practicing unless licensed in the >> patient's state, even in an emergency. >> >> If there were a bioterrorist event such as a smallpox outbreak or >> anthrax attack, states could legally share fire trucks and >> helicopters but not medical expertise. But in a world reshaped by the >> 2001 terrorist attacks, states are beginning to change that and, for >> the first time, consider interstate compacts that lay the groundwork >> for medical professionals to cross state borders. >> >> In both the Midwest and the South, regional alliances are being >> forged to develop agreements and the technological know-how to share >> medical expertise in emergencies. >> >> Ten Midwestern states, led by Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R), are >> making arrangements to share medical personnel and communications >> capabilities. The alliance would include Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, >> Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. >> >> Separately, 16 governors working through the Southern Governors' >> Association <http://www.southerngovernors.org/> (SGA) have been >> trying since shortly after the airplane and anthrax attacks in 2001 >> to develop an interstate emergency medical response system that >> project leaders hope is the beginning of a "national health highway >> system." >> >> The SGA project relies on telemedicine, which uses communications and >> information technology to deliver health-care services over long >> distances. States such as Texas have used telemedicine to treat >> inmates, and Alabama is starting to use it for tracking Medicaid >> patients' blood-pressure readings. >> >> Southern governors want to use telemedicine to connect medical >> expertise to a point of need, for example to allow medical experts to >> diagnose anthrax or smallpox from afar. >> >> Even with today's advances in digital technology, making online >> medical connections can be difficult. The SGA tested a network this >> spring to link state health departments, the Centers for Disease >> Control, and telemedicine programs in Florida, Kentucky, Missouri and >> Virginia. It took three months to secure network permissions for >> making an online connection that lasted 15 minutes -- not the type of >> response time sought by governors during a bioterrorism event. >> >> "The demonstration tested the capabilities of the region for an >> immediate response to such an emergency and found them cumbersome and >> lacking," an SGA progress report said >> >> Coordinating high-bandwidth connections between state computer >> systems (in a point-to-point T1 connection) proved tricky, said Lee >> Stevens, SGA's legislative director for health, human services and >> education. Computer security concerns and reluctance to open "ports," >> the numeric Internet gateways, required intense negotiation between >> participants, Stevens said. >> >> "The irony is that it would be much easier to practice >> internationally than across state borders," said Dr. Jay Sanders of >> the Global Telemedicine Group, an SGA project leader. The >> demonstration showed states could achieve a connection, but the >> system would be unusable in an emergency because the communications' >> quality was lacking, Sanders aid. >> >> Sanders has proposed that SGA seek private grant funding to establish >> the technical protocols on a multi-state basis. He advocated >> expanding the concept of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact >> (EMAC), the agreement that routinely enables emergency >> resource-sharing among states, to include virtual medical response. >> <http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=147127&columns=false> > >> >> SGA is expected to consider the issue at its annual meeting set for >> Sept. 12-14 in Richmond, Va., where Gov. Mark Warner (D) will preside >> as chairman. Warner has said the telemedicine project "can really >> make a difference." >> >> The Midwestern governors are working out agreements to share lab >> space and workers, using $200,000 in federal funds granted to >> Nebraska to fight bioterrorism. The agreement would include the >> creation of a Mid-America Demonstration Center for Public Health >> Preparedness at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. >> >> Both the Southern and Midwestern interstate medical agreements are >> expected to tackle issues of liability, licensure and reimbursement. >> The result will be that interstate medical consultations happening >> now sporadically -- after special licensing and approvals -- could >> occur more easily under the agreements, project leaders said. >> >> Reprinted with permission from Stateline.org. >> <http://www.stateline.org/stateline/> > >> *Kathleen Murphy* > >> Ed Dodds >> dodds@e-dodds.com <mailto:dodds@e-dodds.com> >> <e-dodds.communications/> <http://www.e-dodds.com/> >> 615. 429. 8744 cel | tel >> 508 . 632 . 0370 fax >> ed1dodds aim >> 49457096 icq >> Read <Conmergence/> <http://www.conmergence.com/> > >> > > > >-- > > > Rex Brooks > GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA, 94702 USA, Earth > W3Address: http://www.starbourne.com > Email: rexb@starbourne.com > Tel: 510-849-2309 > Fax: By Request
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