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Telehealth Demonstration for September Southern Governors' Association Meeting

Governors attending the the Southern Governors' Association (SGA) annual meeting in September will view a taped demonstration simulating how telehealth and interactive videoconferencing could assist healthcare personnel in the event of a bioterrorist attack in the United States. MOREnet Video Services, the Missouri Telehealth Network, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Southern Governors' Association collaborated to create the 90-minute presentation. The demonstration, recorded on May 26, 2004, simulated how videoconferencing technology could enable the Centers for Disease Control and health professionals in different states and multiple locations to communicate immediately and effectively to diagnose and treat patients during public health emergencies.

Seated, left to right: Missouri's Governor Bob Holden; Ronald W. Cates, Chief Operating Officer, Department of Health and Senior Services; Jerry B. Uhlmann, Director, State of Missouri State Emergency Management Agency. On the monitor: Dr. Karen Edison, Medical Director, Missouri Telehealth Network. Photo by Gene Royer.

Missouri's Governor Bob Holden introduced the demonstration, also attended by Governors Ernie Fletcher (Ky.) and Mark R. Warner (Va.). Other participants included the state public health departments in Kentucky, Virginia and Florida; the telehealth programs at the University of Kentucky, University of Virginia and the University of Miami; the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta and the Southern Missouri Community Health Center in West Plains, Mo. Infectious disease physicians from all participating states were also involved.

The individuals and organizations involved in the simulation communicated with each other from locations in five different states using videoconferencing technology. Initially, a patient in a clinic in rural Missouri presented symptoms of smallpox. The rural clinic contacted Dr. Karen Edison at University of Missouri Health Care and requested a telehealth consultation. After examining the patient via the video connection, Dr. Edison suspected the patient did have smallpox. Dr. Edison then initiated a multipoint videoconference with the CDC and telehealth networks and public health departments in the states of Kentucky, Virginia and Florida, where additional exposure to the disease was suspected. The CDC then instructed all nine connected sites on treatment, control and maintenance of the disease.

Telehealth holds great potential for helping patients in remote areas and those who present unusual symptoms to quickly receive diagnosis and treatment of their illnesses right in their own home town. MOREnet and Missouri health organizations have demonstrated that they can work together to provide this form of assistance to the citizens of Missouri.

Additional Resources

Southern Governors' Association. "Telehealth Demonstration Introduces Interstate Communication as a Tool for Medical Emergencies." Key Issues in Brief.

Southern Governors' Association. Telemedicine

Missouri Telehealth Network

Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services