Telemedicine 101: An Introduction to Telemedicine and Telehealth
Sponsored by the Center for Health & Technology, Continuing Medical Education, University of California Davis (UC) Health System

This high-level introduction to telemedicine is designed for administrators, physicians, IT specialists, and operations managers who would like to either establish a new, or expand an existing, telemedicine program.  The course covers various aspects of developing and maintaining a successful telemedicine program such as clinical and programmatic uses for telemedicine technologies; strategic planning; organizational structure; legal issues; and technical considerations.  A comprehensive telemedicine demonstration is included so that participants can view the encounter from the perspective of both the specialty and the primary care site.  This ever popular course is being offered again this year!

Course Objectives:

• Define the benefits associated with a number of telehealth applications.
• Understand basic technology terminology associated with telemedicine.
• Discuss the key legal, regulatory and strategic planning aspects of launching a telemedicine program.
• Describe the operational considerations and implementation challenges associated with program development.

Legal & Regulatory Issues in Telehealth
Sponsored by the Center for Telehealth & E-Health Law (CTeL), National Telehealth Resource Center

CTeL and ATA have joined together to provide an overview of the key legal and regulatory issues associated with telehealth.  CTeL is widely recognized as a national resource center for legal and regulatory issues affecting telehealth and has recently been named the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth’s National Telehealth Resource Center. The faculty will include legal scholars knowledgeable about cutting-edge issues facing telehealth practitioners, networks, and vendors.  The program will provide practical advice in an informal atmosphere.

Course Objectives:

• Review key legal issues associated with setting up and running telehealth projects.
• Learn about federal and state fraud and abuse laws and the law challenges related to giving free services and equipment to remote medical sites or customers.
• Discuss special problems faced by multi-state practitioners, including physicians, nurses, and others.
• Review liability, confidentiality, and relevant provisions that should be included in all telehealth agreements.
• Discuss opportunities and challenges associated with telehealth reimbursement by federal, state, and private payers.
• Apply laws to international practice.
• Discuss determining when an in-person physical exam is required.
• Review communications with key state and national stakeholders, policymakers, and decision-makers about critical information and value of telehealth.
• Discuss collaboration as a means of expanding reimbursement, and addressing licensure.

Attendees are invited to e-mail questions in advance to info@ctel.org.

Moderator: Robert J. Waters, JD
CTeL General Counsel, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP,
Washington, DC

Learn what is new in the rapidly evolving fields of home telehealth and remote monitoring.  In the morning session, top experts from home health will focus on how telehealth improves quality indicators and the bottom line. Participants will learn about successful patient outcomes from QIO representatives. The afternoon session will highlight remote monitoring and panelists will share their unique perspectives on how to engage consumers and providers. Participants will also learn about population and device demographic trends and important characteristics for matching vendors with individual agencies and company opportunities.

Course Objectives:

• Learn how home telehealth can improve quality indicators.
• Gain practical tips for cost savings in home telehealth.
• Define key issues that are important to payers and legislators to help make a telehealth program successful.
• Discuss the latest trends in behavioral changes related to population health and remote monitoring.
• Learn how to select the right vendor and product for a telehealth program

Course Objectives:

• Identify business models and apply a specific model to the venture proposed by the telehealth organization.
• Identify financial goals and develop a financial model applicable to the individual venture.
• Identify critical factors for success of a sustainable telemedicine program and how to evaluate progress towards those goals.

Moderator: Deborah A. Randall, Esq
Partner, Health Law Group, Arent Fox LLP, Washington, DC

Doug Johnson
Public Relations Director, NightHawk Radiology Services, Coeur d’ Alene, ID

David Ellis, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine, University at Buffalo School of Medicine/Biomedical Sciences, Director, Telemedicine Services, University of Buffalo, Erie County Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Buffalo, NY

Pamela G. Forducey, PhD, ABPP
Director, INTEGRIS Neuroscience Institute and Telehealth, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Steve Kropp, MS
Director of Outreach Services and Telehealth, Saint Luke's Health System, Kansas City, MO

Jan Sunday, MA
TeleHealth Solutions, Inc, Edwardsville, KS

Barbara Johnston
Sacramento, CA

This course is designed to introduce the concepts of computer networks to the non-technical attendee. It will demystify some of the jargon used to describe the telecommunications infrastructure used in telemedicine/telehealth networks including layers, protocols, and TCP/IP. This is an essential course for those who do not have a technical background but have to manage telemedicine related initiatives.

Course Objectives:

• Understand the fundamentals of computer networks and associated terminology.
• Be well equipped to interact with engineers, technicians and others associated with building and implementing health information technology.

Malcolm Clarke, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Data Communication Systems and Telemedicine, Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom

Experts with a variety of backgrounds in telehealth nursing will address issues relevant to clinical practice, administration, education, research, and policy.  Discussion will center on successes and challenges of integrating technology into nursing practice and future directions for telehealth nursing, including practice and research priorities, as well as guidelines, policy, and standards development.

Course Objectives:

• Discuss issues relevant to clinical practice, administration, education, research, and policy.
• Review training, education, and practice curriculum priorities for telehealth nursing.
• Discuss areas for future research that will help to establish evidenced-based practice for healthcare providers using telehealth technologies.
• Discuss standards and best practice guidelines for telehealth.

Learn about the critical business plan attributes necessary for success in an enterprise or a privately-funded, self-sustaining telehealth program.  Vignettes from “conception to completion” of provider or business-related initiatives will be employed in this course – including case studies that may use interactive, store & forward, R&D, and remote monitoring telemedicine products and services.

Course Objectives:

• Identify enterprise or private funding objectives for telehealth initiatives.
• Develop a strategy for gaining commitment for an enterprise or private telemedicine venture.
• Integrate critical organizational strategic management principles into enterprise or private telemedicine ventures.
• Use a template to begin to identify the elements necessary for a specific enterprise or privately funded telemedicine initiative.
  

Moderator:  Gail Barker, PhD, MBA
Assistant Dean, Financial and Administrative Affairs College of Medicine, Phoenix Associate Director, Finance, Arizona Telemedicine Program University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

This course is designed to introduce the concepts and methods used to integrate human factors into telemedicine and e-health systems. In this course, participants will learn about some of the methods used to assess two of the main areas of human factors in telemedicine: how participants and users interact with each other in the telemedicine environment, and how participants and users interact with the technology of telemedicine. The course will provide an introduction to some of the more popular theories used to guide research in both areas as well as some of the key techniques used to conduct assessments of human factors in telemedicine. This course is designed for people who manage telemedicine projects and personnel, integrate telemedicine technologies into existing work environments, use telemedicine technologies, and those who need to carry out objective program evaluations.

Course Objectives:

• Operationally define telemedicine champions, understand their role in program development and success, and learn about ways to identify them.
• Understand basic communication theory and how to assess communication effectiveness in telemedicine environments.
• Examine ways to assess culture differences as they relate to technology adoption and utilization of health care services.
• Learn the basics of survey design and development for assessing such things as telemedicine user satisfaction and reasons for using or not using available telemedicine services.
• Learn basic techniques for assessing and designing the human-machine interface, with emphasis on understanding special user populations.

Moderator: Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD
Associate Director of Evaluation & Assessment for The Arizona Telemedicine Program, Departments of Radiology & Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Bob Bulik, PhD
Associate Director Office of Educational Development, Senior Researcher Center for Telehealth, Director Scholars in Education, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Jim Katzenstein, PhD
Founder & Director, Healthspan International Foundation, Mission Viejo, CA

George Demiris, PhD
Director of the Health Informatics Graduate Program, Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri, School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

Neil Charness, PhD
William G. Chase Professor of Psychology & Associate of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 

What are the key steps involved in establishing a successful teletrauma and emergency telemedicine program?  Experts cover the key steps and challenges and the role of telemedicine, telehealth and telepresence for trauma, emergency, and disaster management.

Course Objectives:        

• Review the current status of telemedicine for trauma and emergency medical services.
• Examine the steps, policies and procedures in the establishment of a telepresence program for Level I trauma centers to rural hospitals.
• Demonstrate examples of telepresence between emergency room and ACLS ambulances.
• Examine the role of telemedicine and telehealth in disaster preparedness and management.

Moderator: Rifat Latifi, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery, The University of Arizona, Director, Telemedicine for Trauma and Critical Care, The University Medical Center, Southern Arizona Teletrauma and Telepresence Program Associate Director, Arizona Telemedicine Program and International Affairs
Tucson, AZ

James P. Marcin, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, UC Davis Children's Hospital
Sacramento, CA

Laurie Wilson
Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO ICT Centre
Epping, New South Wales, Australia

Stuart Stapleton, MD
Head of Trauma Services at Sydney West Area Health Service, CSIRO ICT Centre
Epping, New South Wales, Australia

David C. Balch
DCB Consulting
Greenville, NC

Getting the Right Technology for Your Telehealth Program
Sponsored by the Technology Special Interest Group

A wide variety of technology options are now available to telehealth programs - for hardware, software, and connectivity.  What are the "appropriate" technologies - and how can programs determine the best options to fit their needs and capacities. Technology selection is a critical factor that impacts clinical care, is constrained by budget, and dramatically impacts training, support, sustainability and growth potential. This course will examine a wide variety of technologies for both store/forward and live/interactive telemedicine programs. Instructors will provide a framework for evaluating these technologies in terms of requirements analysis, market surveys, clinical viability, user acceptance, vendor interaction, and product management.

Course Objectives:

• Identify the core technology options currently available for a variety of telehealth applications
• Identify the critical components and processes in technology review and selection
• Identify the advantages, tradeoffs and limitations posed bycurrent technologies.

Co-Moderator: A. Stewart Ferguson, PhD
Director of Telehealth, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage, AK

Co-Moderator: Douglas J. McClure, MIM
Corporate Manager for Operations and Technology, Center for Connected Health, Partners HealthCare, Boston, MA

Kathy Duckett RN, BSN
Director of Clinical Programs, Partners Home Care, Waltham, MA

Rick Cnossen, MS
Standards Technology Manager, Intel Corporation - Digital Health Group, Hillsboro, OR