A group of Georgia-based telehealth veterans with close ties to the American Telemedicine Association has launched a new organization dedicated to "deliver worldwide access to healthcare."
The group aims to give telemedicine efforts in the United States and abroad an established identity, cutting through red tape and establishing the mHealth service as an accepted means of care.
The TeleHealth International Partnership (TIP) was formally unveiled on March 24 as an organization "focusing on increasing access to healthcare through innovative use of technology including telemedicine and health information exchange." Its chairman is Jay Sanders, a founding board member and President Emeritus of the ATA who is commonly referred to as the "father of telemedicine;" and its vice president is former astronaut and venture capital specialist Bernard Harris, Jr., who recently served a two-year term as the ATA's president.
Joining them as TIP's CEO is Paula Guy, CEO of the Global Partnership for TeleHealth and a 15-year veteran of the telehealth industry. Other officers include David Flannery, a clinical geneticist in the Medical College of Georgia of Georgia Health Sciences University, as vice chairman; and Jeffrey Kesler, COO of the Georgia Partnership for Telehealth, as COO
“It has been my vision to bring together a team of this caliber that the industry has yet to see," Guy said in a press release. "The time has finally come for ‘the father of telemedicine,’ an astronaut physician and a very gifted geneticist to work with us to lead the company in changing lives all over the world.”
“It’s not about the technology any longer. Telehealth is the application of technology and comprehensive services that make a program successful," Kesler added. "We are about building healthier communities."
According to officials, TIP will align itself with the Global Partnership for TeleHealth as well as the Georgia, Alabama and Florida Partnerships for TeleHealth. It supports telehealth services in eight other states and has partnerships in Guatemala, Zambia, China, Haiti and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
Guy said TIP's members have had success in the United States in developing telehealth programs for hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, schools, correctional facilities, emergency departments, trauma centers, stroke centers, primary care offices, child advocacy organizations and continuing education services. The network currently boasts more than 300 locations and 200 clinicians representing more than 40 specialties.
“We have seen clinical utilization climb exponentially," she said in the release. "While in January 2006 we had a mere eight encounters, we had over 70,000 encounters in 2012 and doubled to over 130,000 encounters in 2013."
