In 2003, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth, KUCTT received its second, three-year federal grant award from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT), a division of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The grant of $749,460, awarded in the amount of $249,820 per year for three years, is supporting and expanding Telemedicine and Telehealth’s existing telehealth network.
The first OAT grant, awarded in 1999, provided for the delivery of specialty services via telemedicine to nine rural communities throughout the state. That original project, known as TeleHealth for Kansans, has brought a host of specialties to rural Kansas communities, including dermatology, dietetics and nutrition, oncology and hematology, neurology, rheumatology, pediatric cardiology, psychiatry and psychology, and speech pathology.
The latest grant, titled “Sustainability and Cost Benefit Evaluation of the Kansas Telehealth Network,” allots at least 50 percent of the funding to rural areas of the state. The grant will provide funding for additional equipment, telephone charges and staff at already established sites. It will also support continuing education events through video conferencing technology.
Telemedicine has expanded access to specialty health care for patients in Kansas and across the country. From oncology care to pediatric cardiology, psychological therapy to weight management consultations, the program has facilitated over 13,000 provider-patient telemedicine encounters since 1991, making it one of the world’s most active programs. While doing so, the department has developed a strong, cost-based research program within its nationally respected TeleKidcare ® and teleoncology programs. This published research has provided a preliminary costing model by which other telehealth projects can be evaluated. With the current OAT grant, this model will be further refined and extended to additional telemedicine specialties and sites.
To get more information about the work of the Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth, visit the department’s Web site at: www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine.