The existing network has more than 30 sites, including about 15 at telemedicine partner Intermountain Healthcare's facilities. Those sites include rural hospitals, clinics, locallocal health departments and urban hospitals, as well as the prison. Telemedicine technology includes video conferencing, transmission of digital images, direct patient care and consultation, education services and security features.
The grant will be used to switch existing sites to Ethernet, which will greatly improve speed and the amount of data that can be exchanged quickly, and to add as many as 50 more sites statewide, according to Dr. Marta Petersen, medical director for UTN and a professor of dermatology at the U.
UTN plans to overhaul the network to increase speed, capacity and reliability. The reconfiguration, being called Utah ARCHES (Advancing Rural Connections for Healthcare and E-health Services), should be completed in 2011.
UTN has, for more than a decade, connected patients and providers in rural areas of the state with specialists, using not only video conferencing, but also the ability to transmit electronic records and images that are needed for a meaningful consultation.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Lois M. Collins
Quelle/Source: Deseret News, 31.01.2008
