Experts Will Confer Through Telemedicine Network Primarily Used For Education So Far

Fri., Sept. 18, 1998

By Kim Barker kimb@spokesman.com

A regional telemedicine conference will explore everything from malpractice issues to psychiatry.

The conference, open to the public, will be today from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Providence Auditorium, next to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

The session, which costs $10, aims to increase the use of telemedicine equipment, discuss benefits and barriers to doctors using telemedicine, explore liability concerns and let participants actually use the equipment.

Experts from around the country will be at the conference, even if they’re just appearing on video screens.

It’s the second regional telemedicine conference in Spokane.

Telemedicine blends powerful computers and telephone lines. Rural doctors can link up with big-city specialists to talk about tough cases. Rural patients can get psychiatric help when none is available locally.

At least, that is the hope. There are problems: Insurance companies rarely cover telemedicine consultations. It’s not clear who would be liable in a malpractice suit. Doctors would need multiple licenses to cross state lines.

Spokane hospitals set up a joint telemedicine project last year called TeleHEALTH, under the Inland Northwest TeleHEALTH Services network.

Fourteen Eastern Washington hospitals now belong to the network, including the four Spokane hospitals, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute and the Shriners Hospital for Children. Three more rural hospitals will be hooked up soon.

The network has primarily been used for education so far, but more and more clinical consultations will be done, director Denny Lordan said.

“Reimbursement is our main focus,” he said. “Physicians will not want to do consultations if they don’t get reimbursed.”

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