Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 4
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City of Scottsdale, Arizona- Local Government Perspective on Multitenant Building AccessAppendix 4: Submitted Position Statements
Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP)
University of Arizona (U of A) Health Sciences Center
Position StatementThe Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP) utilizes telecommunications services from a number of carriers to support the delivery of telemedicine based clinical services and continuing medical education to medically underserved populations in rural Arizona. ATP operates the Arizona Rural Telemedicine Network (ARTN) which links urban and rural healthcare facilities and supports the provision of telemedicine services to several correctional facilities in the state. The ARTN interconnects with other telemedicine networks in the state and links 38 sites involving 32 separate organizations in 22 communities in Arizona. Last December, the ATP was one of two telemedicine programs in Arizona named among the "Top Ten" in the country. In building this network over the last four years we have gained a great deal of experience with telecommunications providers in both rural and urban settings. Our experience has not been entirely pleasant and it teaches us that the concept of telecommunications competition in Arizona remains just that - a concept. It is certainly not a reality. We have designed the topology of our network specifically to be able to take advantage of competition, yet continue to find our choices limited to a single provider in most areas of the state. This factor is detrimental to the cost-effective deployment of telemedicine and other information based services.
Our program, along with our partners, has demonstrated a strong business case for the use of telemedicine, especially for correctional settings and mental health. We have also documented significant cost benefits for the delivery of continuing medical education to rural health professionals. We envision a statewide, ubiquitous infrastructure linking all healthcare and health education providers in the state. We refer to this vision as "eHealth@Arizona". We believe that using eHealth we can reverse the abandonment of rural communities by HMO's, improve the access to specialty care and open up competition for healthcare services by eliminating geographical distance as a factor. Currently, one of the greatest obstacles to the realization of such a vision is the high cost and lack of availability of broadband telecommunications services capable of supporting diagnostic quality telehealth interactions. Policies that enhance competition and drive down the cost of such telecommunications services will benefit all the residents of Arizona.
Submitted by
Kevin M. McNeill, Ph.D., Associate Director of Network Architecture
Arizona Telemedicine Program, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center
PO Box 245067, Tucson, AZ 85724-5067
(520) 626-6930, URL: http://radiology.arizona.edu/
Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 4
returnNEXT Submitted Position Statements:
City of Scottsdale, Arizona- Local Government Perspective on Multitenant Building Access