UA telemedicine program gets monetary boost

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona Telemedicine Program administrator Sandy Beinar demonstrates some capabilities of telemedecine from a lab at the Arizona Health Sciences Center. Since last February's demonstration, the UA telemedicine program has received a $142,000 grant to expand their work.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the money to the University of Arizona as part of a $16 million distance learning and telemedicine loan and grant program.

Richard McNeely, co-director of the 2-year-old UA telemedicine program, said the money will be used to connect the Whiteriver Indian Health Service Hospital to the telemedicine network.

"This is supplemental money to allow us to buy capital equipment for the site," McNeely said.

Telemedicine involves using interactive video equipment, computers, modem connections and high-tech cable connections to transfer data and meet with patients. The technology benefits people in rural areas and prison facilities, where normally only primary-care physicians are employed.

The Arizona Legislature requested the UA create a telemedicine program in 1996. It contributed $1.2 million to purchase equipment for eight sites, including one prison facility. The program is part of UA Health Sciences Center.

McNeely said the UA program could not have survived on state money alone and has received five different federal grants. He said equipment is not the largest cost involved when connecting a new site.

"The trouble is the cost of the telecommunication connection," McNeely said. "We have applied for federal money to help with that."

Although most of the video transmissions can be made over regular telephone lines, a broadband digital line called T1 can transmit much more data quickly and clearly.

Dr. David Yost, clinical director of the Whiteriver Health Services Unit, elaborated on the difference between the two types of transmission lines.

"If we take a CAT scan of the head, the transmission could take one hour over a standard phone line," Yost said. "But with a T1 line, the transmission can be compressed to five minutes."

Yost said the telemedicine equipment will be a great benefit to his clinic, located in the White Mountains.

"It will save some people some trips," he said. "Every time we put someone in the air, it costs $4,000 to $5,000, plus there is a risk, especially in bad weather."

Yost said another benefit of having telemedicine equipment is that it saves patients' relatives from having to travel to Tucson.

"In their (American Indian) culture, death and dying decisions are made by large groups of people - 50, 60 or even 100," Yost said. "Getting that many people to the UA costs a great deal of money."

Yost said he would do reverse teleconferencing in those situations, allowing the relatives of a sick patient to gather in the hospital in Whiteriver and speak to the patient.

McNeely said although doctors have used the program to diagnose 1,279 patients, they still need to prove the concept should continue.

"We need to determine that telemedicine is a viable medical-practice option," McNeely said. "We also need to show it can be self-sustaining."

Roger Salazar, a USDA public affairs representative, said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman was working to make telemedicine a more permanent part of medical practice across the nation.

"We would like to improve opportunities for rural communities," Salazar said. "We want to make sure Congress continues to allocate money for the program."

Anthony C. Braza can be reached via e-mail at Anthony.C.Braza@wildcat.arizona.edu.