Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) contributed the chapter “It’s Time for Telemedicine: Greater Access, Better Quality, and Lower Costs” to the book Paper Kills 2.0: How Health IT Can Help Save Your Life and Your Money, a powerful sequel to the award-winning book, Paper Kills.

Nancy Vorhees, chief operating officer of INHS, and Jac Davies, director of Northwest TeleHealth, authored the chapter, joining Newt Gingrich, Tom Daschle, and other national industry leaders as they explore leading information technologies that can and will transform the nation’s health care system.

“INHS’ network is simply one of the most effective and innovative health information systems in the country,” said Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation and former Speaker of the House. “From telemedicine and remote ER services to integrated health records, INHS continues to develop new and better services using information technology to improve convenience, increase accuracy, reduce errors and decrease costs.”

The telemedicine chapter defines telemedicine technologies, reviews barriers to utilization and emerging opportunities and the types of services Northwest TeleHealth provides to the greater northwest region.

“In this era of health reform, telemedicine is one technology that has real potential to significantly improve the delivery and reduce the cost of healthcare,” said Vorhees. “The telemedicine industry has seen considerable growth and maturation since its early beginnings in the 1960s, but widespread utilization has been much slower than many industry analysts predicted.”

Northwest TeleHealth, a program of INHS, was established in 1997 to help deliver healthcare services in rural communities. Washington and Idaho have geographic, cultural, economic, and technological divides that separate urban areas from its exceptionally rural regions. From its early beginnings connecting a handful of sites, Northwest TeleHealth has grown to a mature telemedicine network linking 65 locations with more than 100 videoconference devices. Northwest TeleHealth network member locations are independent healthcare facilities that include regional medical centers, rural hospitals and clinics, mental health facilities, corrections facilities, and Indian health centers.

By transmitting live video, voice, and data, Northwest TeleHealth makes it “possible for patients, physicians, administrators and health care educators to interact and share information,” commented Davies who manages the program. “These linkages occur not only within the Northwest TeleHealth network but also among telemedicine networks around the country.” In 2009 Northwest TeleHealth hosted more than 2,000 videoconference events, with connections ranging from Minneapolis to Guam to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

The book can be purchased through the Center for Health Transformation by visiting their website at http://www.healthtransformation.net.

Northwest TeleHealth is a service of Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS). INHS is a non-profit corporation based in Spokane, Washington, provides collaboration in health care services on behalf of its member hospitals Deaconess Medical Center, Providence Holy Family Hospital, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital, and Valley Hospital & Medical Center, and the community. Other INHS companies include St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, Northwest TeleHealth, Northwest MedStar, Community Health Education & Resources (CHER) and others. For more information, visit www.inhs.org.

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