UAMS Expands Video Conferences To Improve Cancer Care in South Arkansas
UAMS Expands Video Conferences To Improve Cancer Care in South Arkansas, LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is expanding its video conference network in six counties in south Arkansas to link more local physicians with cancer experts here. UAMS has received a grant from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth in the Health Resources Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to expand oncology education and direct patient consultation via interactive video in Bradley, Calhoun, Ouachita, Polk, Hempstead, and Union Counties. The grant of $736,362 is for three years. Local hospitals will contribute another $408,000 to the project. “There are very few oncology specialists in south Arkansas,” said Ann Bailey Bynum, Ed.D., director of the UAMS Rural Hospital Program. “They have only two medical oncologists and one radiation oncologist serving a rural population of almost 200,000. We want to decrease health care provider isolation in those areas. We think this will increase communication and provide a greater integration of services.” Living conditions in the counties covered by the grant are some of Arkansas’ worst. They have a disproportionate number of low-income, elderly, and minority residents and suffer some of the highest cancer death rates in the state. In the two-year period that ended in June 2002, 523 cancer patients were referred to the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at UAMS from the six counties. “These are usually some of the most challenging and difficult cases to treat,” Bynum said. Expansion of the interactive video network will allow highly trained cancer specialists at ACRC to provide public education in a long-distance classroom-like setting. In addition they can consult directly with patients and their local physicians, make diagnoses, and conduct follow-up visits. Thanks to interactive video, patients will be exposed to the kind of multi-disciplinary team approach that is rarely available in their hometown clinics and physician offices. UAMS will expand interactive video programming already available at Bradley County Medical Center in Warren, Mena Medical Center, Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden, and the UAMS South Arkansas Area Health Education Center in El Dorado. It also will install new videoconferencing equipment at the Community Health Center in Hampton, the Migrant Health Center in Hope, the Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado, and the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at UAMS. New interactive video equipment, including telemicroscopes, electronic stethoscopes, and oral exam cameras, is now being installed in the various locations. Transmission equipment will soon be set up at ACRC. The grant will also pay the salary of a full-time coordinator, and partially fund the salaries of nine other employees, including six site coordinators, one in each county. Since 1991, UAMS has been sharing i
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 LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is expanding its video conference network in six counties in south Arkansas to link more local physicians with cancer experts here. UAMS has received a grant from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth in the Health Resources Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to expand oncology education and direct patient consultation via interactive video in Bradley, Calhoun, Ouachita, Polk, Hempstead, and Union Counties. The grant of $736,362 is for three years. Local hospitals will contribute another $408,000 to the project. “There are very few oncology specialists in south Arkansas,” said Ann Bailey Bynum, Ed.D., director of the UAMS Rural Hospital Program. “They have only two medical oncologists and one radiation oncologist serving a rural population of almost 200,000. We want to decrease health care provider isolation in those areas. We think this will increase communication and provide a greater integration of services.” Living conditions in the counties covered by the grant are some of Arkansas’ worst. They have a disproportionate number of low-income, elderly, and minority residents and suffer some of the highest cancer death rates in the state. In the two-year period that ended in June 2002, 523 cancer patients were referred to the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at UAMS from the six counties. “These are usually some of the most challenging and difficult cases to treat,” Bynum said. Expansion of the interactive video network will allow highly trained cancer specialists at ACRC to provide public education in a long-distance classroom-like setting. In addition they can consult directly with patients and their local physicians, make diagnoses, and conduct follow-up visits. Thanks to interactive video, patients will be exposed to the kind of multi-disciplinary team approach that is rarely available in their hometown clinics and physician offices. UAMS will expand interactive video programming already available at Bradley County Medical Center in Warren, Mena Medical Center, Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden, and the UAMS South Arkansas Area Health Education Center in El Dorado. It also will install new videoconferencing equipment at the Community Health Center in Hampton, the Migrant Health Center in Hope, the Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado, and the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at UAMS. New interactive video equipment, including telemicroscopes, electronic stethoscopes, and oral exam cameras, is now being installed in the various locations. Transmission equipment will soon be set up at ACRC. The grant will also pay the salary of a full-time coordinator, and partially fund the salaries of nine other employees, including six site coordinators, one in each county. Since 1991, UAMS has been sharing interactive video resources with affiliated hospitals and rural health clinics in Arkansas, using T1 transmission lines. The network now reaches 40 sites throughout the state. Most video conferences have been educational, for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals, and for the general public. The network also supports physician-patient interactions. The UAMS Rural Hospital Program is an approved provider of nursing continuing education, and offers a comprehensive nursing series through interactive video.
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