Printer-friendly format

Dr. Curtis Lowery, director of the UAMS Center for Clinical and Translational Research, hosts a teleconference with Dr. E.J. Jones, M.D., of Batesville, top, and Dr. Scott Bailey, M.D., of Fayetteville. The three obstetrician/gynecologists are able to co

A $102 million federal grant, one of the largest ever received by an Arkansas institution, will enable the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to establish or upgrade broadband Internet connections with 81 hospitals as well as with all state human development centers, community health centers, mental health clinics, home health agencies and the statewide trauma network.

The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant was announced August 18 at UAMS by Rick Wade, senior advisor and deputy chief of staff at the Department of Commerce. Twenty-nine states received $1.47 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or federal stimulus package, to build Internet infrastructure. Only West Virginia ($126 million) received more than Arkansas.

UAMS and its partners must provide a 20.6 percent match of $26,450,427.

The grant application process was led by Dr. Curtis Lowery, chairman of the UAMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, director of the UAMS Center for Distance Health, and director of the UAMS Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which this grant supports.

During the announcement, Lowery pointed out that the grant will allow the expansion of telemedicine and the transfer of healthcare data, including patient medical records and CT scans, from one institution to another, eliminating the need for costly duplicate work.

“Visiting with distant doctors and specialists for clinical consultations through interactive video will be an everyday event,” he said. “We’ll share x-rays and CT scans and other medical imaging with medical facilities, eliminating the need to repeat … costly imaging at new facilities when patients are transferred … People wonder how we’re going to accomplish healthcare reform in the future. This is it. This is the way we’re going to reform healthcare.”

The grant will improve Internet access at 474 healthcare and education sites in 135 communities in all 75 counties. It will purchase $22 million in telemedicine equipment for hospitals, clinics and home health sites. In addition to healthcare facilities, it will enable all the state’s two-year colleges to tie into the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network currently shared by the state’s four-year institutions. Future expansions can include almost 4,000 community institutions, including long-term care facilities, provider clinics, licensed ambulance services, offices of emergency management and schools.

UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn said increasing broadband access is a vital step in helping rural Arkansas move forward. “This extension of broadband access around our state is really the modern day equivalent of the initiative to provide electricity to rural areas in the first half of last century,” he said.

In an interview afterward, Lowery said that work should begin by October or November. All money must be spent within three years.

He said a key benefit of fiber optic networks is their reliability. While traditional Internet transfer speeds fluctuate based on usage, these will provide dependable connectivity, which is critical when a patient is in an emergency situation.

And for some parts of Arkansas, it will represent a revolution in Internet access. CT scans that take hours to download using traditional Internet access can be done in seconds using fiber optics. “There are some places that have limited data transfer,” he said. “I know our department as of a few months ago was still getting some CTs by dialup.”

Lowery oversees several of UAMS’ telemedicine programs, including the ANGELS (Antenatal and Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning System) Program that currently connects obstetrician-gynecological physicians at more than 40 rural sites, and Arkansas SAVES (Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), a similar program for stroke patients available at 18 emergency rooms in Arkansas. Because of Arkansas SAVES, Lowery said a Mena woman admitted to an emergency room with stroke symptoms was given a blood clot-dissolving drug that enabled her to recover and live independently at home rather than being confined to a nursing home. Prior to the telemedicine program, that drug was rarely administered, Lowery said. He said that emergency room connectivity will be an early priority.

Because of the grant, more providers will enjoy benefits currently available to the Willow Creek Women’s Hospital in Fayetteville. During a teleconference with members of the media after the announcement, Scott Bailey, MD, described how Willow Creek has benefited from telemedicine since partnering with UAMS. Each Thursday, providers there share ultrasounds and engage in direct physician-to-patient consultations via teleconference. Instead of sending pregnant patients to Little Rock, Missouri or Tulsa for special echocardiograms, those patients can stay in northwest Arkansas, Bailey said.

In one recent case, doctors at Willow Creek were caring for a pregnant woman with a placenta previa, a condition where the placenta covers the cervix. Complicating the problem was the fact that the mother previously had undergone a Caesarian section. “I was able to do an emergency consultation with Dr. (Paul) Wendel at nine o’clock at night on Friday night,” Bailey said. “I was in touch with him within two minutes, and the three physicians here sat down with him, and we mapped out a plan on what to do, how to deliver, when to deliver, what to have ready, just to get his input into this very high-risk pregnancy.”

Bailey said that on Wednesdays and Thursdays, doctors from facilities in Arkansas participate in grand rounds via teleconference where they discuss hot topics such as delivering via vaginal birth after a mother has undergone a Caesarian section. Bailey said that not only does that help rural providers stay current on the latest information, but it also helps ensure care is consistent across the state.

Lowery said that many lawsuits occur because providers fail to detect fetal heart rate problems during a pregnancy. This grant will allow providers to do secondary monitoring of pregnant women offsite, adding a second set of eyes to the process. “An independent system monitoring something, the likelihood of both missing the event simultaneously is reduced dramatically,” he said.

Tags:

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network, broadband internet access, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, Dan Rahn, Dr. Curtis Lowery, Dr. Paul Wendel, federal stimulus package, UAMS, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Willow Creek Women’s Hospital

Login and voice your opinion!

Do you know someone else who would like to see this?
Your Email:
Their Email:
Comment:	(Will be included with e-mail)
Secret Code	In the box below, enter the Secret Code exactly as it appears above *