Healthcare Technology Featured Article

August 17, 2009

Healthcare Technology and News: Internet Health Information Network to Connect Urban and Rural Health Care Providers


The Colorado Hospital Association and the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council announced that they have selected Qwest Communications to provide high-speed broadband services to link nearly 400 of the state’s urban and rural health care and behavioral health providers, to offer telemedicine access.
 
This will make  Colorado Telehealth Network one of the largest health care information networks in the United States. CHA expects that the Colorado Telehealth Network will connect approximately 70 percent of the 388 eligible facilities by the end of the year and will complete connectivity in early 2010.
 
The Colorado Telehealth Network, managed by CHA and CBHC and powered by Qwest, will help to expand broadband communication to rural areas of the state, providing people medical help without leaving their homes or communities. Intensive care providers are able to monitor critically ill patients around the clock and video conferencing allows specialists and mental health professionals to care for patients in different rural locations.
 
The Colorado Telehealth Network will connect nearly 400 hospitals, clinics and other health care and behavioral health providers in Colorado to Qwest’s national fiber-optic network and enable them to provide patients with long-distance medical care using speeds up to 100 megabits per second.
 
“The ability of Colorado’s health care providers to accurately exchange information with each other in a timely fashion is a critical component of the state’s efforts to make health care more affordable, and to improve coverage and access,” said Gov. Bill Ritter. “I am pleased to see our vision of an interconnected system move one step closer to reality.”
 
CHA President and CEO Steven J. Summer commented: “Too many rural communities are isolated from many of the advanced diagnosis and treatment technologies available in urban areas. The Colorado Telehealth Network, when implemented, will enable Coloradans to receive the right care, at the right place and at the right time.”
 
The network will enhance the delivery of health services, help control costs and reduce travel time for consumers, decrease medical errors and enable health care providers to share critical information.
 
“The Colorado Telehealth Network will promote better health in many ways, while greatly reducing the need for rural residents to travel long distances to receive quality care,” explained George DelGrosso, executive director of the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council. “This innovative system will save lives and scarce health care resources.”
 
Qwest will manage metro optical Ethernet and data networking technology to provide a secure, reliable, scalable voice and data platform to health care providers of all sizes, to share critical medical information over large distances.
 
“The Colorado Telehealth Network is an example of how Qwest’s network solutions can eliminate the obstacle of geography and revolutionize the delivery of quality health care in rural areas of the state,” commented Sharon Montgomery, vice president of Qwest Government and Education Solutions. “Hospitals and clinics of all sizes will be able to use this technology to extend their reach to access remote information and expertise to deliver quality patient care to every community, regardless of location or size.”

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Anamika Singh is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Anamika's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Harrison
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