Southwest Telehealth Resource Center Blog

Conversations around healthcare increasingly center on digital equity and inclusion, especially as more communities across the country embrace telehealth, expand broadband connectivity, and consequently recognize the importance, more than ever, of digital literacy.

According to Jaleen Johnson, program manager for the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC), social determinants of health have long been connected to digital literacy and broadband connectivity. However, to better understand that relationship, digital equity and inclusion must first be defined, and an explanation provided as to why these concepts are important, and how they relate to healthcare.

SEARCH 2023 – The National Telehealth Research Symposium connects health researchers, academics and visionaries in telehealth and telemedicine to share findings and foster research partnerships. The annual conference, hosted by the Society for Education and Advancement in Research in Connected Health, focuses on research of telemedicine, telehealth, eHealth, and other healthcare technologies. This year’s conference on November 7-9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will feature research presentations on AI, behavioral health, and more.

COVID-19 is frequently attributed with introducing healthcare providers to the world of telehealth, but for a hospital system serving patients in Colorado and Kansas, the expansion of telehealth has been the norm for almost a decade.

With growth comes a need to negotiate space in tight hospital settings. HealthONE’s remedy was to bring all telehealth under one roof at their Denver headquarters by creating the Virtual Care Center.

“This telehealth conference has been over a year in the making. We've been wanting to do this for some time ... I'm thrilled that this is happening,” John Packham said, welcoming healthcare providers gathered at University of Nevada–Reno, simultaneously connecting with others located in Carson City at the Nevada Health Centers, Las Vegas at UNLV, and virtually.

Packham, Associate Dean for the Office of Statewide Initiatives, University of Nevada–Reno, School of Medicine, added the timing of the conference was perfect with the dust setting on the pandemic.

Until earlier this year, newborn infants in the Four Corners region of New Mexico, born prematurely or with unique health problems requiring specialty care, were typically transported to neonatal intensive care units at larger hospitals hours from home.

According to Dr. Bradley Scoggins, the purchase of an Amwell telemedicine cart and a new telehealth partnership with Presbyterian Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team in Albuquerque, NM has helped keep more infants at the San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, NM.