Overview
Grants Overview
KANSAS, Wyandotte County
Sustainability and Cost Benefit Evaluation of the Kansas Telehealth Network
University of Kansas Medical Center
RTGP FY 00-02 TNGP FY 03-05
KU Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth (KUCTT)
3901 Rainbow Blvd.
Kansas City, KS 66160
http://www.kumc.edu
http://www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine/
Gary Doolittle, MD
Ph: 913-588-2226
Fax: 913-588-2227
Email: gdoolit@kumc.edu
Network Partners:
Cedar Vale Hospital, Crawford County Mental Health Center, Hays Area Health Education Center, Hays Medical Center, Moline Rural Health Clinic, Northeast Kansas Center for Health & Wellness, Parsons State Hospital, Sedan City Hospital, Smoky Hills Family Practice Residency Program, Southeast AHEC, Southwest AHEC, Windsor Place Nursing Home. Actual number of patient encounters 1 OCT 05-30 SEP 06: 2,298.
Project Purpose:
The Project will expand the Kansas Telehealth Network, linking the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) to 12 partner sites in rural Kansas to improve access to clinical specialties and sub-specialties through telemedicine connections. A comprehensive cost-benefit evaluation of clinical telemedicine across multiple partner sites and medical specialties will be conducted.
Outcomes Expected/Project Accomplishments:
Standard cost-accounting methods will be utilized to compare the cost of providing a telemedicine consult to the cost of providing both traditional and outreach consults. Cost data will be paired with quality-of-life instrument data.
Service Area:
The service area is comprised of nine counties in Northeast, Northwest, South Central, and Southeast Kansas. Seven of the nine counties are Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) or partial HPSAs, all nine are mental health HPSAs, and seven are dental HPSAs.
Services Provided:
The Kansas Telehealth Network has been operational since 2000 for clinical and educational videoconferencing. Major services provided by KUCTT are: Mental Health including, Adult Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Psychology and other Counseling Services; Cardiology, Diet and Nutrition, including Diabetes Care and Management; Oncology; Rehabilitation; Physical Therapy and Speech Language Pathology; and a wide range of Pediatric Services. Wound care services have also started to see recent increase in volume. Patient education and continuing education services are provided as well.
Equipment:
All sites are equipped with PolyCom F/X Viewstations and ATI TelePhonic Stethoscopes.
Transmission:
Consults are conducted at 384 kbps or higher over dedicated ISDN PRI lines and through H.323 Internet Protocol (IP).
KANSAS, Wyandotte County
Telehealth Access and Cost Benefit in Kansas
University of Kansas Medical Center
TNGP FY 06-09
KU Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth (KUCTT)
3901 Rainbow Blvd.
Kansas City, KS 66160
http://www.kumc.edu
http://www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine/
Ryan Spaulding, PhD
Ph: 913-588-2226
Fax: 913-588-2227
Email: rspaulding@kumc.edu
Network Partners:
Cedar Vale Clinic, Central Kansas Educational Cooperative, Crawford County Mental Health Center, Flint Hills Community Health Center, Goodland Medical Center, Hays AHEC, Northeast Kansas Center for Health & Wellness, Parsons State Hospital, Salina Regional Health Center's Early Childhood Intervention Center, Sedan City Hospital, South Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative, Southeast AHEC, Southwest AHEC.
Project Purpose:
The project will evaluate access and cost-benefit of pediatric special needs services delivered via telemedicine across the Kansas Telehealth Network, which links the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) to 13 partner sites in rural Kansas. Cost accounting procedures will be used to compare costs of telemedicine to more traditional service delivery methods, and validated quality of life instruments will be employed to measure the benefit of telemedicine. The services being evaluated include developmental pediatrics, Autism/Asperger's interventions, child psychiatry and behavioral pediatrics from such specialists as Developmental Pediatricians, Child Psychiatrists, and Child Psychologists, respectively.
Outcomes Expected/Project Accomplishments:
It is hypothesized that access to pediatric special needs services will be improved and that the cost of providing the service via telemedicine will be lower than providing the same service in a traditional outreach setting. It is also expected that quality of life measures will demonstrate at least an equivalent level of care via telemedicine as that which is observed in traditional settings. Together, these cost-benefit data will provide evidence that telemedicine can be a cost-effective and clinically-beneficial service.
Service Area:
This network will serve 13 sites in 11 counties across Kansas, covering 9,115 square miles and a population of 267,772. Ten of the 11 counties are HPSAs or partial HPSAs, 8 are mental health HPSAs and 9 are MUAs or partial MUAs. This area has a disproportionately high number of elderly, children, Native Americans and Hispanics compared to Kansas overall. In the proposed service area, 13.2 percent of the population lives below 100 percent of the poverty level and 37.3 percent live below 200 percent of the poverty level. Children living in poverty in the area is 16.4 percent.
Services Provided:
The services provided include developmental pediatrics, Autism/Asperger's interventions, child psychiatry, child psychology and behavioral pediatrics from the respective specialist, such as Developmental Pediatricians and Psychiatrist. Other services provided by KUCTT are: Cardiology; Diet and Nutrition including Diabetes Care and Management; Oncology; Rehabilitation; Physical Therapy and Speech Language Pathology; and a wide range of Pediatric Services. Patient education and continuing education services are provided as well.
Equipment:
All sites are equipped with PolyCom F/X Viewstations or the Polycom VSX 7000.
Transmission:
Consults are conducted at 384 kbps or higher over dedicated ISDN PRI lines and through H.323 Internet Protocol (IP).
