Alice Watland's Page

Good Morning, Alice:

I am glad ATA is moving in this Linked In arena. I am not totally familiar with how this system might work re connectivity for ATA. Is this a tool to support Special Interest Group communications? Please advise.

Also, is it too late to propose a small presentation/session at the ATA Annual Meeting, talking about disaster preparedness and telemedicine. I am particularly interested in developing a coordinated response that connects on-scene rescuers to large hospitals and academic health science centers using these assets. We will have our Mobile Telemedicine Vehicle there this year and broaden our presentation to include AEGIS - the Advanced Emergency Geographic Information System, a new disaster - telemedicine device we developed.

In addition, I discussed the problems with diabetic health education and educating consumers over the Internet. Currently, Medicare will not reimburse for these services. We have been working with small hospitals to extend our capability to sites where there are no ADA certified health educators. The reimbursement of these functions could significantly help sustain our efforts. Is this something we might begin to raise as an issue before Annual ATA meeting?

Be well.

Paul Simms, Director
Telehealth Initiative
Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center