The Ohio Telehealth Video Resource Center, an independent, nonprofit self-sustaining organization will provide links between the state’s higher education system and Ohio’s healthcare industries. “The Center will make it possible for Ohio to be the premier global hub for online medical education and videoconferencing,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut who recently approved the seed funding for the Center.
The Center’s telehealth resources will be available for clinical care in neonatal care, pediatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry, dermatology, and radiology, plus provide consultations in other medical disciplines. Services will be available for medical education activities, such as grand rounds continuing education programs, and demonstrations of new and emerging clinical practices. The Center will also be used for research projects, such as clinical trials or multi-center interactions, and in the technology arena, the center will provide a forum for the development of standards.
The World Bank one of the partners involved in establishing the Center is currently involved in Ohio-based telehealth projects to provide educational and clinical experiences to physicians in other countries. These collaborations include working with the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University.
In addition to the World Bank and the University System of Ohio, another partner the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) has partnered with Ohio universities and industries to provide reliable high performance computing and high performance networking infrastructure for education, academic research, industry, and state government.
OSC recently partnered with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Adena Regional Medical Center to deliver specialized neonatal expertise via high definition videoconference to hospitals in rural areas. OSC is also testing software that will enable researchers to use broadband networks to remotely access and operate expensive scientific equipment such as electron microscopes.
Charles R. Doarn is leading the collaborative effort to establish the Center and will serve as the Executive Director. He has served as Executive Director for the Center for Surgical Innovation at the University of Cincinnati and is a leader in the industry specializing in space medicine, telemedicine, telehealth, and international health.
