Office of Telemedicine News Archive
July 2005: Telemedicine participated again this year in the annual Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic in Wise, Virginia. From July 29-31st, telemedicine saw 69 patients for diabetic retinopathy screening and assisted UVa mammography which treated 83 patients. During the three day clinic, over $1 million dollars of care was given to over 6,000 patients. Click here to see pictures and additional statistics from this year. For more information about RAM, please visit http://www.ramusa.org/
June 2005: The Office of Telemedicine has recently extended their network to two new sites in Virginia . Troutdale Medical Center in Troutdale and Twin City Medical Center in Bristol are fully operational and have access to all thirty four clinical services provided by Telemedicine.
On June 1st, Congressman Boucher (D-9th) and Senator Wampler (R-40th) traveled to Troutdale Medical Center for the press conference of the new Telemedicine partnership.
December 2004: On December 23, the Office of Telemedicine, in partnership with Freedom Calls Foundation, made the first connection to Iraq . Through live videoconferencing, a local mother connected to her son who is serving in Camp Cooke , Iraq . A service member based in Camp Fallujah had a multi-point videoconference with his relatives in Charlottesville and wife and daughter in Atlanta. He was able to see his one year old daughter walk for the first time.
October 2004: Major Mary Krueger of the U.S. Special Forces spoke about her experiences being the only female military physician in Afghanistan and the challenges of humanitarian efforts. Her presentation was broadcasted on October 8th to the students of Craig County High School and addressed the importance of diversity and cultural awareness in humanitarian work, women's issues in Islamic culture and public health challenges and triumphs in the nation of Afghanistan.
July 2004: On July 22-25, 2004 Telemedicine participated again in the annual Remote Area Medical clinic in Wise, Virginia. Click here to see pictures and information from 2004's clinic.
May 2004: The Office of Telemedicine participated in a multi-state bioterrorism exercise using telehealth technology to diagnose a case of the smallpox and to plan a public health response, sponsored by the Southern Governors' Association . Representatives from the states of Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention participated.
January 2003: Office of Telemedicine participated in a nationwide exercise dubbed "Shadow Bowl 2003 ." The main event took place in San Diego, CA on Super Bowl weekend and simulated a mass casualty event. The overtaxed first responders and on scene medical personnel asked for assistance nationwide. The Office of Telemedicine connected the UVA Emergency Department to the triage area. UVA doctors were able to help triage the "patients" and recommend courses of treatment.
November 2003: Over 2000 people received a variety of medical and dental services November 21 and 22 at the Martinsville, VA Health Fair and Dental Clinic , sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health, the University of Virginia and the Virginia Dental Association. The concept of the event was spearheaded by Governor Mark Warner. The Martinsville and Danville areas and other localities in the Southside of Virginia have been hit hard recently by numerous layoffs at textile and furniture plants. The Office of Telemedicine connected back to UVA and provided specialty care that was not available on site.
November 2003: In conjunction with a Federal Communications Commission meeting that would vote on changes to the Universal Service Fund support for rural healthcare the Chairman of the FCC, Michael Powell and Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy visited the Office on November 7, 2003 . While here, our visitors participated in a live interactive Telemedicine presentation with both the Saltville Medical Center and the Bath County Community Hospital . Along with the technology demonstrations the Chairman and the Commissioner heard testimonials from patients and their family members on how Telemedicine has benefited them and helped their communities.
Commissioner Abernathy, Chairman Powell,
Ann Pope, and Dr. Karen Rheuban
July 2003: The UVA Office of Telemedicine participates in the record breaking Remote Area Medical clinic in Wise, Virginia. Click here to see pictures from the 2003 clinic.
June 2003: Dr. Rheuban provides testimony at the Agriculture Committee hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.
May 2003: The UVA Office of Telemedicine is featured in the Rural Cooperatives Magazine
October 2002: The UVA Office of Telemedicine is awarded a grant of $250,000 from Anthem Virginia to underwrite the cost of health care services.
October 2002: On October 21st the University of Virginia Office of Telemedicine was awarded a $73,000 Distance Learning/Telemedicine Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Service, Rural Development Program. Dr. Karen Rheuban was presented the award at the University of Virginia. This grant will link five rural communities to the University of Virginia's Telemedicine Network.
October 2002: From October 16th-18th the University of Virginia Department of Telemedicine hosted nine foreign visitors sponsored by The United States Telecommunications Training Institute. This is an annual event, hosted by UVA bringing visitors from around the world to learn about the latest advances in Telemedicine and distance learning.
September 2002: The University of Virginia Office of Telemedicine is awarded a grant from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Department of Health and Human Services; six new sites will be added to the UVA Telemedicine Network starting in October 2002.
July 2002: The University of Virginia Office of Telemedicine hosts E3 Science Camp.
June 2002: UVA submits comments to the FCC concerning the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Rural Health Care Support Mechanism.
Congressman Boucher(D-9th), Susan Greever (left) and Dr. Karen Rheuban (right) announce funding from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth for the Bland Medical Clinic.
June 2002: UVA participates in telemedicine demonstration on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.
Dr. Karen Rheuban and Congressman Goodlatte (R-6th), Va.
April 2002: UVA Telemedicine program featured at Federal Communications Commission hearing announcing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Rural Health Care Support Mechanism (WC 02-60).
April 2002: Congressman Goodlatte (R-6th) visits the Telemedicine Office.
June 2000: We began conducting consults with the Scott County Health Department in Gate City. The service requested was culposcopy support of cervical cancer screenings.
January 2000: Winchester tele-echocardiography project begins.
November 1999: The Southwest Virginia Alliance for Telemedicine is awarded a Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Services (RUS) grant to link two additional sites in Southwest Virginia: Dickenson County Medical Center and Saltville Medical Center. The Office is asked to accept the grant in Washington, DC, on behalf of all the RUS grantees during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Rural Utilities Service.
March 1999: The Office of Telemedicine performed its 1000th consultation.
November 1998: The Cutting Edge Medical Report entitled Telemedicine: "The Future is Now", featuring the UVA Office of Telemedicine, aired on the Discovery Channel
August 1998: The Office of Telemedicine participated in Congressman Rick Boucher's Internet Fair in Abingdon, VA, providing a demonstration of our new telemedicine system over the statewide ATM network.
June 1998: The Office of Telemedicine was included in an article in the New York Times. The article, "Telemedicine Getting Test in Efforts to Cut Costs of Treating Prisoners", was featured in the June 8, 1998 edition of the New York Times.
March 1998: The Office of Telemedicine connects with the Virginia Highlands Community Service Board and Blue Ridge Community Service Board for telepsychiatry consults with several hearing impaired patients. This was our first telemedicine consult for deaf patients and was a resounding success.
September 30, 1997: The University of Virginia Health Sciences Center was awarded an NTIA Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant administered by the United States Department of Commerce in the amount of $412,269. This grant is intended to fund the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Telemedicine.