Pulse

Volume5/2000_July10July 10, 2000 PULSE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER U of U Telehealth Outreach Program Improves Statewide Medical Access For many patients outside Salt Lake City, a trip to University Hospital for a 15-minute follow- up visit can mean a five-to six-hour drive. Some patients in rural Utah can now be seen by university providers without leaving their hometown, using the Utah Telehealth Network managed by the University's Telemedicine Outreach Program. " As physicians and other health- care providers become comfortable with the technology, more and more of them are finding that telehealth is a real advantage to patients and caregivers in remote parts of Utah," said Marta J. Petersen, M. D., associate professor of dermatology and program director. There are currently five sites that feature interactive video links which can support real- time patient consultations. These video sites are based at health- care facilities in Vernal, Moab, Richfield, Price and the Utah State Prison. Four other rural hospitals are linked into the network and can receive services such as e- mail and internet access from the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library. The Telemedicine Outreach offices are located on the first floor of the medical school near Nuclear Medicine, as well as in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Associate director Deb LaMarche has seen the program expand from one staff person to its current six. " We can now provide the support needed for a comprehensive program," she said. " The key to effectively using telehealth is building relationships with providers at the remote locations. The more competent and well trained those providers are, the more effective telehealth is as a tool for evaluating patients and providing care," said Sherri Evershed, R. N., M. S. P. H., clinical coordinator. " One of our most active sites is at the state prison," said Petersen. " We host weekly and monthly clinics for specialties such as orthopedics, dermatology, and cardiology. The physicians find it very effective for initial consults and follow- up care. " The State Department of Health's Bureau of Children With Special Health Care continued on back Going Bald for a Good Cause The Burn Unit's Claudia Loertscher, R. N., kisses the freshly shaven head of Dave Milligan from the State of Utah's Office of Comprehensive Emergency Management. Millgan, a former firefighter, agreed to shave his head if the office raised more than $ 300for UH's Burn Unit. Loertscher was proud to accept a check on behalf of the unit for $ 400. The money will be used to support the unit's annual Burn Camp. Escape Summer Heat in Hallside Gallery The featured artist this month in Medical Illustration's Hallside Gal-lery, room AC113 SOM, is local painter W. Kent Ethington. A contributing member of Park City's Kimball Art Center, Ethington uses watercolors and oils to paint impressionistic landscapes. His work has been featured in a variety of local and national galleries. The Hallside Gallery, as well as Medical Illustra-tions, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, according to director G. Julian Maack, who has been with the office for 46 years. Watch Pulse for more details. O PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER W. Kent Ethington continued from front Needs also uses the system to follow up with patients between regular visits. The U's departments of psychiatry and dermatology also utilize the network on a regular basis. " The system really represents tremendous savings to patients from outside Salt Lake City," said Petersen. " A visit to the university typically requires a day off work and, often, the cost of a motel room. In most cases, insurance companies are willing to pay for telehealth visits as they would regular visits." In addition to patient consultations, Petersen says the network can be used to broadcast grand rounds to rural sites and provide continuing education for rural providers. " As the technology improves and we move to a completely internet- based network, telehealth has unlimited possibilities," she said. For more information about the Telemedicine Outreach Program and the Utah Telehealth Network, visit the program's website at www. utahtelehealth. net or contact Abe Lindman, Program Coordinator, at xl- 7234. It Could Be Time to Take Grandpa's License Away A study by the Intermountain Injury Control Research Center ( IICRC) in the U's Department of Pediatrics has found that older drivers are more likely to receive citations, twice as likely to be involved in left-hand turn crashes and seven times more likely to be killed or hospitalized when wearing seatbelts. The study compared the charac-teristics and medical outcomes of Utah motor vehicle crashes for drivers 70 years and older with those of drivers between the ages of 30 and 39. During the study years, 1992- 1995, there were nearly 15,000 drivers older than 69 years and about 69,000 between 30- 39 involved in motor U's Commitment to Family Practice Honored The University of Utah has been recognized for its success in making family practice a top career choice for graduating medical students. It received a Silver Achievement Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians during a recent conference of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. The U of U medical school has a three- year average ( as of 1999) of 26.4 percent of medical students choos-ing to enter a family practice residency program upon graduation. The Silver Award is presented for a three- year average of 25- 29.9 percent. The U received Silver Awards in 1997, 1998 and 1999, and previously had received two Bronze Awards. A number of programs in the U medical school's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine are designed to encourage interest in that specialty, according to Michael K. Magill, M. D., professor and depart-ment chair. These include a family medicine honors program with a preceptorship for fourth- year students; the required four- week family medicine clerkship for third- year students; a family medicine interest group for first- and second- year students, and a summer research program between the first and second years. The medical school curriculum also requires a six- week primary care rotation for senior students who choose from the specialties of family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics and, in some cases, obstetrics and gynecology. Two courses, Social Medicine and Patient in the Community, focus on the roles of family physicians. Family medicine resident Sally Tan, M. D., ( second from right) discusses the U's program with fourth- year medical students ( from left) Rachel Hobhs, Alice Mitchell, and Katherine Gesteland at the medical school's annual family practice residency fair. vehicle crashes in the state. Older drivers were more likely to be cited for failure to yield and disregarding traffic signals or signs. They also were more likely to be killed or hospitalized. On the plus side, older drivers were less likely to have crashes involving drug or alcohol use and less likely to have crashes at high speed according to the study published in last month's issue of " Annals of Emergency Medicine." The IICRC has been involved in funded research since 1992, and takes a public- health approach to injury control. Recent study areas have included school injuries, efficacy of seat belts, teenage driver crashes and the evaluation of the Utah Drivers License Medical Conditions program. J. Michael Dean, M. D., MBA, professor and chief of the pediatrics Division of Critical Care, is principal investiga-tor on IICRC studies