UT Specialty Consultations "In Touch" Service Home Care Telemedicine Trauma Care Telemedicine History of Telemedicine

Nestled in the valleys and ridges of East Tennessee are some of the state's most medically underserved communities. Telephone lines are helping solve this healthcare dilemma by "bringing" specialty medical consultants from the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville to area patients and physicians.

The University of Tennessee Telemedicine Network began in September 1995 with a hub site at the Telemedicine Department at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knox County and one spoke site at Woods Memorial Hospital in McMinn County. In October 1996, a second spoke site was added at LaFollette Medical Center in Campbell County, and a third spoke site at Morristown-Hamblen Hospital began operation in 1999. Rural clinic spoke sites include Blaine Clinic, Rutledge Clinic, and Washburn Clinic in Grainger County and Mountain Peoples Clinic in Huntsville.

The Telemedicine Center is a multidisciplinary unit contained within the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville. The Telemedicine Center is networked by secure transmission lines to community hospitals in the rural UT service area. Contained within the community hospitals are examination rooms dedicated to Telemedicine.

The primary mission of the Telemedicine Network is to provide quality, cost effective patient care to underserved rural communities in the UT service areas. To achieve this mission, the primary focus is meeting the needs of the customer.

By providing access to specialty care within the rural community, the needs of the patient are met by decreasing travel time and cost, lost wages, and the impact of time and distance on morbidity. By providing earlier access to specialty care, earlier detection and treatment of disease processes is available. Without appropriate treatment, many disease processes may progress to more costly treatment methods and increased mortality rates.

The needs of the physician are met by minimizing changes in the practice patterns of the participating specialty physicians. Careful attention is given to the physician's current office practice patterns and routines, which are incorporated in the telemedicine exam. The participating physician has the opportunity to better serve the patient by establishing a satellite office in the rural community with the time, distance, and travel removed.

The success of the Telemedicine Network is dependent on the ability to utilize the equipment as a transparent tool between the physician and patient. The patient/physician interaction during a telemedicine encounter should simulate the presence of the physician and the patient in the same room.

Practice Medicine, Not Telemedicine, Presentation given at Telemed III, November 7, 1997

by Dr. Sam Burgiss.

University of Tennessee Medical Center Telemedicine Staff:

Sam Burgiss, PhD, Manager

Gary T. Smith, MD, Medical Director