The West Virginia Primary Care Network, Inc. established the West Virginia Telehealth Network (WTHN) to address the growing burden of chronic conditions and the lack of resources to effectively manage these conditions in the rural areas of West Virginia. The project will link existing resources and create new linkages for training of health care professionals serving the rural areas of West Virginia in chronic care management, and will provide access to specialized allied health care professionals to assist in the provision of direct chronic care patient services using the WTHN. By using videoconferencing over frame-relay, the quality of rural health care will be improved and the complications of chronic illness can be avoided.
The WTHN will be used to provide training to the twenty-two participating Network members on the use of the Chronic Care model to care for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, and asthma. The system will also be used to provide specialized services such as diabetic education, dietary counseling, and cardiovascular risk reduction. The 22-member organizations provide services to patients in 22 of the 55 counties of West Virginia, and most of these centers are located in rural areas (less than 5,000 in population) which have been designated as medically-underserved or as health provider shortage areas.
The WTHN is part of the Community Health Information System (CHIS) which provides centralized practice management data for Network members. The WTHN will utilize video teleconference units and connectivity to complement the data elements of the CHIS. The WTHN will also coordinate with the Network's electronic health record functions, and piggyback on existing T-1 frame relay connectivity between the Network's central data center and each participating member site. The WTHN will link to other participants, such as the West Virginia Division of Primary Care, which will coordinate with other state participants such as the Office of Health Promotions and academic health centers.
