WWAMI Rural Telemedicine Network

Welcome to the WWAMI Rural Telemedicine Network

The WWAMI Rural Telemedicine Network is a three year demonstration project funded through September, 1997 by the Office of Rural Health Policy. The purpose of the project is to explore the utility of telemedicine consultation by a tertiary care medical school facility to the clinicians and patients of six remote towns in the Northwest: Colville, Washington; Petersburg, Alaska; Ronan, Montana; Driggs, Idaho; Pomeroy, Washington; and Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Telemedicine consultations are offered in the areas of radiology, cardiology, dermatology, emergency medicine/trauma, mental health/substance abuse, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, pediatrics and neurosurgery. Consultations take place using desk-top computers with specialized imaging software at each of the remote sites and near the emergency rooms of University of Washington Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, Children's Hospital Medical Center and at the University of Washington, Roosevelt Clinic. Consultations are available on a scheduled basis initially and will be available on an emergent basis as the project develops. The consults are professional to professional and usually include the patient. In addition to the desktop calling units, the participating practitioners are equipped with a high quality digital scanner for transfer of still images.

A driving force behind the development of this grant is the examination of issues related to reimbursement for Telemedical services. Data and experience gathered during the course of the project will be shared with payers and other interested parties throughout the region in order to promote the development of mechanisms for the reimbursement of telemedical services.

This project involves many individuals in a wide range of disciplines. The Leadership Team for the WWAMI Rural Telemedicine Network consists of: