On December 15, 2016, the Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center (PBTRC) participated in a video teleconference ceremony to launch the opening of the Pohnpei Telemedicine Room in the Pohnpei Hospital. The ceremony was attended by the Pohnpei State Governor, the Chairman of Health, Senators, and the Director of Pohnpei State…
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Introduced by Hawaiʻi’s own Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) as well as Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the Expanding Capacity for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Act was signed into law by President Obama on December 14, 2016. This bipartisan bill aims to increase access to high quality healthcare and health education in…
The Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center recently provided technical support for the Pacific Basin Medical Association (PBMA) conference in Majuro, held from October 3 to 5, 2016. The conference came two weeks after the PBTRC hosted the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) Telehealth Champions Building and Planning Workshop in Honolulu. At…
The U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) Telehealth Champion Building and Planning Workshop was held in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi from September 13 through 15, 2016. Thirty-four individuals from the Pacific Region attended the workshop, including health administrators and health care providers from the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth…
On September 10th, the Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center had a booth at the 2016 Hawaiʻi Health Workforce Summit, organized by the Hawaiʻi/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center (AHEC). The booth received over 100 walkthroughs from individuals interested in learning about telehealth and workforce development. In addition to the…
On August 19, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) submitted a report on e-health and telemedicine to the Committees on Appropriations of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The report explains ways that advances in telecommunications can improve access to care and improve…
On August 2, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a new mapping tool that allows users to visualize, overlay, and analyze broadband and health data at the national, state, and county levels. The tool called: Mapping Broadband Health in America, was launched by the FCC’s Connect2Health task force…
Hawaiʻi Governor David Ige has signed a bill into law that expands the coverage for telemedicine services in the state. Read the full story at hcinnovationgroup.com….
On July 7, 2016, Governor David Ige of the State of Hawaiʻi signed into law Senate Bill 2395: Relating to Telehealth as Act 226 (16). This Act: Requires the State’s Medicaid Managed Care and Fee-for-Service programs to cover services provided through telehealth; Specifies that any telehealth services provided shall be…
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a technical brief titled, Telehealth: Mapping the Evidence for Patient Outcomes from Systematic Reviews. The brief provides an overview of the body of evidence about telehealth for use by decision…