Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan: Health Care

Setting the Table for the National Broadband Plan:
Healthcare

The newest series of the Broadband Breakfast Club continues with a look at the developing National Broadband Plan. What is such a plan likely to resemble? How will it affect deployment, adoption and the use of broadband throughout the United States? How will it affect health care, the environment, the digital divide, and online learning?

Telecommunications advocates, policy-makers, journalists, and top officials seeking to trade insights on these important issue can attend the Broadband Breakfast Club, which includes a full American and Continental breakfast, for as little as $45.00, plus a modest registration fee. The events are on the record and open to the public.

The topic of discussion for this breakfast in the series is:

Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 8 a.m. - Health Care and Telemedicine

How will broadband affect burgeoning controversies over health care? Are the cost savings available through telemedicine as good as promised? Will information technologies be part of the solution - or just another complicating factor in the intricate medical system?

Confirmed Panelists:

• Dr. Adam Darkins, Veterans' Affairs Administration

Adam Darkins leads the National Telehealth Programs for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Successful implementation of telehealth within VA involves the use of health informatics, telehealth and disease management technologies to enhance and extend care and case management. Under his leadership, VA has developed the clinical, technology and business underpinnings to successfully implement and sustain enterprise-wide telehealth-based services that have demonstrably improved access to care for patients, reduced utilization of health care resources and are associated with very high levels of patient satisfaction. VA is seen as a leader in telehealth with over 260,000 patients receiving care annually at more than 600 sites. At any given time 40,000 of these patients use home telehealth technologies. The mission of these programs is to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time to the appropriate patient. The associated aim is providing care for patients in the most convenient setting – when safe and cost-effective. Dr. Darkins has worked in health services development and has implemented enterprise information technology systems in the US and UK since 1991. He has a previous clinical background in neurosurgery.

• Dr. Ted Eytan, Medical Director, Delivery Systems Operations Improvement, Kaiser Permanente

Ted Eytan's experience is in working with large medical groups and technologists to bring health care consumers useful information and decision-making health tools, to ensure that patients have an active role in their own health care. Dr. Eytan is board-certified in family practice, and most recently completed service as medical director for health informatics for Group Health Cooperative of Washington State. He has worked with the California Healthcare Foundation to promote patient online access to health information. He attended medical school at the University of Arizona, and received his masters degrees from  the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Washington. He completed his residency training at Group Health and his fellowship training in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Washington in 2000. His clinical interests are preventive care and reducing disparities in health status among vulnerable populations.

• Col. Ron Poropatich, M.D., Department of the Army

Colonel Ron Poropatich, M.D., is Deputy Director for the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Md. The facility manages more than $450 million a year in federally-funded research. Col. Poropatich is a Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and Chair of the NATO Telemedicine Expert Team. He is a former President and Board Member of the American Telemedicine Association and a practicing Pulmonary Medicine physician at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the “Telemedicine and e-Health Journal.”

• Dr. Jay Sanders, CEO, Global Telemedicine Group; often dubbed the "father of telemedicine"

Known to many as the "Father of Telemedicine," Jay Sanders is also Professor of Medicine (Adjunct) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a Founding Board Member and President Emeritus of the American Telemedicine Association. He developed the first statewide telemedicine system, the first correctional telemedicine program, the first tele-homecare technology, called "The Electronic House Call", and the first telemedicine kiosk. His consulting activities have included NASA, DOD, HHS, the FCC, State Governments, WHO, and multiple academic institutions and Fortune 500 companies. During the Clinton Administration he represented the USA to the G8 nations for telemedicine, and was appointed by former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to the Chronic Care Workgroup Committee. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, magna cum laude, a member of AOA, and did his residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he became Chief Medical Resident. In 1970, he developed and started the first division of general medicine in the country at the University of Miami, at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He has held other academic appointments at the Medical College of Georgia, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University School of Medicine.

Resources:

1. http://www.carecoordination.va.gov/telehealth/index.asp - Department of Veteran's Affairs
   
2. http://www.kp.org/future - Kaiser Permanente's health information technology efforts 
3. http://www.kp.org/healthdisparities - Ending health disparities, from Kaiser Permanente
4. http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/aboutkp/green/index.html - Green resource center, from Kaiser Permanente
5. http://www.youtube.com/kaiserpermanenteorg - Kaiser Permanente's latest campaign promoting patient-centered health information technology; videos of members empowered by health care delivered in the home via kp.org.

The event is moderated by Drew Clark, Editor and Executive Director of BroadbandCensus.com. The breakfast begins at 8 a.m., followed by a discussion, beginning shortly after 8:30 a.m. and ending by 10 a.m. Join the conversation for an engaging and in-depth examination of broadband - one of the most vital topics of our day.

Register above for this breakfast event, or click here to register for future events.

PLEASE NOTE: The Broadband Breakfast Club has moved to Clyde's of Gallery Place, at 707 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, conveniently located adjacent to the Gallery Place Metro Station on the Red Line.

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Sponsored tables, including promotional opportunities for the sponsor, may be available. For further information, contact sales@broadbandcensus.com, or call 202-580-8196. The Broadband Breakfast Club is produced by Broadband Census News LLC.

The Broadband Breakfast Club is Sponsored by:

International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc.