Arizona Telemedicine Council:
Unique Structure, Extraordinary Impact
By J a n e Er i k s o n o n
February 12, 2015
The Arizona Telemedicine Program was established in 1996 with
eight clinical sites around the state. Now, nearly 20 years later, the
ATP has expanded to 160 sites.
A
s the numbers imply, this is a
program whose impact has far
exceeded expectations. In fact, on
a map recently published by the University
of Arizona, showing sites around the state
where the UA has a presence, the ATP far
outnumbers other programs.
Ronald S. Weinstein, MD, co-founder
and director of ATP, points directly to the
visionary folks – legislators, physicians,
agency officials, hospital and insurance
executives and others – who have
committed their time and talent to the
Arizona Telemedicine Council (ATC).
“We are dependent on the Council for
their community input,” says Dr. Weinstein,
former head of pathology at the University
of Arizona, where the ATP is based. “The
Arizona Telemedicine Council members
keep our program abreast of needs and
opportunities outside the walls of the
university. We appreciate the limitations
of what we can see from within the
University.
They approached James Dalen, MD, then
dean of the UA College of Medicine,
and sold him on the idea of basing a
telemedicine program at the UA. Dr.
Weinstein agreed to serve as director.
“We wanted a means of monitoring the
program,” Burns recalls. “There was no
bill; Lee said we didn’t need one. So we
set up this ad hoc council where people
– telemedicine users and those who were
just interested – could come and go. The
council meets quarterly, and Dr. Weinstein
gives us a progress report and says this
is what the plans are, and then it’s open
to advisory input from members of the
council.
“It’s a challenge to keep
up with all the changes,
but that’s the way it is
with technology.”
– Bob Burns
“Collectively, the Council members have
a panoramic view of what’s happening in
health care. With members from public and
private sectors, from government and the
community, and as leaders with expertise
that we need, we find the Arizona
Telemedicine Council invaluable. It’s our
secret sauce for success.”
“I think it puts a level of positive pressure
on the program, which we appreciate,”
says Dr. Weinstein.
The Council was the idea of former state
Representative Bob Burns, who is co-founder
of the ATP and a member now of the Arizona
Corporation Commission working jointly with
Dr. Weinstein. After attending a meeting on
the potential of telemedicine and visiting the
country’s first telemedicine program, under
the direction of Jay Sanders, MD, in Augusta,
Georgia, Burns connected with the late John
Lee, the Arizona Legislature’s university
budget analyst.
“This is just one example of how the
Council has helped us develop our vision,”
Dr. Weinstein says.
It was at a meeting two years ago that
Alan Pitt, MD, a radiologist with Barrow
Neurological Institute, suggested the ATP
would benefit from a robust social media
campaign. (One result is the blog you’re
now reading.)
Bruce Groll, a finance director for the
Arizona Department of Education, has been
with the Arizona Telemedicine Program
and Council since the beginning; he was on
John Lee’s staff in the Legislature.
According to Groll, “The Council has been
very effective in terms of bringing together
members of the medical community with
people in state government with related
health-care and education interests; with
correctional facilities, representatives of
tribal communities, and businesses such
as UnitedHealthcare; and a great group of
legislative folks who have helped enlighten
our elected officials about the health-care
needs of our state.”
As a result of the Council’s input, Burns
says, “there have been several spin-offs
from our original concept of providing
medical services to rural communities.
One of the big spin-offs is our continuing
education component. Medical
professionals tell me they really appreciate
being able to take part in a continuing
education program without having to
leave their practice and drive to Tucson or
Phoenix.”
Burns was the original chair of the ATC,
and has attended all but two of its 71 – to
date – quarterly meetings. “It’s an amazing
record of civic leadership,” Dr. Weinstein
says.
Says Burns, “I think it’s developed into
a great program. I can’t believe not only
the geographic expansion but all the
technological things the program can do
that it wasn’t able to do in the beginning.
It’s a challenge to keep up with all the
changes, but that’s the way it is with
technology.
“We talked at the Council meeting in
January about all the things a doctor can do
with his cell phone. It’s mind-boggling.”
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