Rural Healthcare Providers, Administrators, Nursing Directors, Managers, State Agencies, Third Party Insurers, Specialists in Cardiology, Psychiatry, Neurology, Rheumatology & Dermatology, IT Personnel, and State Legislators need to mark their calendars. The “Telemedicine in South Carolina” Conference will be held February 27, 2009, in Columbia South Carolina. This is the first state-wide planning event to examine the progress made in the telemedicine field from a national, state-wide, and community perspective.
The goal is to explore how to effectively use IT/ICT to provide telemedicine services to rural clinical offices and hospitals in South Carolina. Some of the specific objectives are to find out how telemedicine can be used to increase access to specialty medical services, find out what specific specialty services are most needed in rural and underserved state communities, examine how telemedicine is used in other states to increase access to healthcare services, and the steps needed to increase the use of telemedicine in the state.
Key speakers include:
- Ron Weinstein, M.D., Director, Arizona Telemedicine Program, will provide the Plenary Address
- Amy Brock Martin, Dr.PH, Deputy Director & Research Assistant Professor, South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina will present the South Carolina Needs Assessment Survey Results
- Herman Spetzler, M.S., Executive Director, Open Door Community Health Network in Eureka California will be the luncheon speaker
Several panel discussions will take place. The first panel moderated by Raymond S. Greenberg, M.D., President, Medical University of South Carolina will discuss the “Challenges for the Statewide Telemedicine Program”.
Panelists will include Emma Forkner, M.P.A., Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Richard Lindrooth, Ph.D., Director, Medical University of South Carolina Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies, Ronald S. Weinstein, M.D., Director, Arizona Telemedicine Program, and Nancy E. Brown-Connolly, R.N., M.S., Ph.D., Clinical Consultant to TATRC.
The second panel discussion moderated by Harris Pastides, Ph.D, President, University of South Carolina will discuss the “Community Health Perspective: Opportunities and Challenges for Telemedicine-Improving Access and Healthcare Quality”.
Panelists will include Ralph Riley, M.D., Rural Family Physician, Past President of the South Carolina Rural Health Association, Lathran Woodard, Chief Executive Officer, South Carolina Primary Healthcare Association, Rick Foster, M.D., Senior Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety, South Carolina Hospital Association, and Herman Spetzler, Executive Director, Open door Community Health Network, Eureka, California
A third panel discussion to be moderated by David Garr, M.D., Executive Director, South Carolina AHEC, will tackle “Telemedicine Development and Collaboration: Opportunities for Creating Partnerships and Funding Telemedicine Programs”.
Panelists will include Stan Fowler, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Special Projects, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Robert Adams, M.D., Director Medical University of South Carolina Stroke Center, C. Edgar Spencer, M.Ed., M.S.W., Director of the Duke Endowment Grant, Medical Director’s Office, South Carolina Department of Mental Health, and Frank Clark, Ph.D., Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Medical University of South Carolina.
There is no registration fee, but to register, go to https://www.scahec.net/telemed.html or call 843-792-4439. The South Carolina AHEC, the Medical University of South Carolina and the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina along with the grant funding from the Duke Endowment are presenting the conference.
