Each year Americans spend more than a trillion dollars on the health care system. The Institute of Medicine report, A New Health System for the 21st Century reports “between the health care we have and the care we could have lies not just a gap, but a chasm. The American health care delivery system is in need of fundamental change.  This change would need to address innovative as well as evidence-based model for treatment of diseases with the patient at the center, often referred to as “consumer-driven health care.”  We believe that telecommunications technology, such as Telehealth, can be a feasible and cost-effective strategy to meet the challenge of improving medical services for rural Oklahomans and can help bridge the gap between the traditional medical model and community-based approaches for individuals whose distance/finances/transportation are barriers, whether they reside in a rural or urban area.

INTEGRIS Health created Oklahoma’s first telemedicine network in 1993 by connecting several rural INTEGRIS Health hospitals for voice, video, and data connectivity. Our institution was awarded a rural telemedicine grant (1997-2000 and 2000-2003) from the Office for Advancement of Telehealth (OAT), which is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  The primary goals of this grant were to improve access to healthcare for rural individuals across the life span, reduce isolation of rural practitioners, and to collect and disseminate this data.

Today INTEGRIS Telehealth is no longer dependent on grants but is a sustainable corporate business model within the Information Technology (IT) enterprise. As of February of 2006, we have conducted 16, 175 Telehealth encounters and have provided specialty services (e.g. TeleRehabilitation, TelePsychiatry, TeleCardiology, and Home TeleMonitoring) to a wide range of consumers, from pre-K students with disabilities in our rural schools to geriatric patients with chronic medical conditions such as stroke, congestive heart failure (CHF), mental illness, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). We have provided services to consumers in a variety of settings, including their homes, physician offices, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and schools.

Our next Telehealth service we hope to offer to physicians and practitioners in rural emergency departments across Oklahoma is TeleNeurology. Our primary goal for this initiative is to assist rural practitioners 24/7/365 with neurological consultation for the provision of evidence-based management of acute ischemic stroke. Needless to say, we are passionate and focused on our mission, which is to expand the health of the community we serve through the use of telecommunication technology.