Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC)
Two western NE school nurses, Tammy Dean of Bridgeport and Jan Brown of Mitchell, and Cathy Clark of Bassett attended the Nov 9 NITC Telehealth Committee meeting via statewide audio-video (A-V) connection at Regional West Medical Center (RWMC) in Scottsbluff and at the Bassett Hospital. The meeting originated from Bryan/LGH East in Lincoln.
NITC Telehealth Committee Background:
The Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC) has nine members, and works to make state investments in information technology more accessible and responsive to the needs of Nebraskans. Among the commission’s responsibilities are developing a statewide technology plan, adopting guidelines and technical standards, and making recommendations on technological purchases to the Governor and Legislature during even numbered years. Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy chairs the NITC. (From p.3A of the October 25, 2005 Scottsbluff Star-Herald article announcing new Chadron State College president Janie Park’s appointment to the NITC Commission. The article also notes Dr. Park earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Baylor University, and her master’s and doctorate in cell and molecular biology from Florida Institute of Technology. She began her career as a registered nurse, and worked through the academic ranks at both FIT and Montana State University- Billings.)
The NITC Telehealth Committee/program was started in 1992 as a result of problems of access to [health] care in rural areas of the state. Currently they are working on electronically connecting public non-profit hospitals across the state. All but 15 of the 88 hospitals are currently connected. The next step would be to connect the state labs, the public health depts and the public clinics in the state. The step after this connection would be the schools.
The Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network Mission Statement is: 1) To increase the quality, availability and accessibility of health care throughout the state of Nebraska, particularly as it impacts the rural population within the State. 2) This video conferencing capability is particularly important in allowing rural areas of the state to have access to other health providers and information without the need for extensive travel. 3) The Network seeks to bring together invaluable resources to improve the readiness of the state to deal with terrorist acts and threats, as well as naturally occurring disasters.
Nov 9, 2005 Telehealth Committee Meeting information:
Major parts of this meeting were discussions of the technical and paperwork issues involved with setting up telecommunications connections (referred to as the “backbone”) for Nebraska’s statewide Telehealth program. It was noted 80% of our nation lacks broadband communications in rural areas.
When we asked what the committee saw as the school nurses’ role on this committee, responses included: 1) Understand how the network is progressing, and how the backbone can be utilized to serve students. 2) Learn how to utilize the network for things such as a student case conference with interface and input from a distant provider. 3) Learn how the network can be used for educational offerings for school nurses and others. 4) The committee is hoping to provide some trial training sessions through ESU 10 in Kearney in the spring of 2006.
Next meeting is scheduled for December 14 at 10:00 CST/9:00 MST in Lincoln. Tammy Dean plans to attend that meeting via the connection at RWMC in Scottsbluff. Though the telecommunications network is still in the stage of “tweaking” and continued technical improvement, and we recognized the decrease in “networking” which occurs when all committee participants are in the same location, we agreed the immensely decreased travel time for the meeting was wonderful!
