Tele-Health Program

Non-Insured Health Benefits | Support Services Program | Tele-Health Program
For many First Nations and Inuit communities, the nearest hospital, doctor or nurse may be hundreds of kilometres away. In many cases, this gap can be bridged using telehealth - technology that allows patients, nurses and doctors to talk as if they were in the same room.

TeleHealth can be:

Two physicians discussing a patient's problems by telephone;
Medical information being transferred, safely and confidentially, between computers via high-speed telephone lines;
A patient getting a face-to-face examination by a remotely located doctor, through interactive video-conferencing; and
Medical images previously photographed and stored on computers, being forwarded later to remotely located professionals.

Telehealth is the utilization of Internet Communication Tools for various purposes and abilities
Our current ability is Video Conferencing via internet connectivity
Future abilities will be clinical telehealth applications and equipment.

eHealth is the umbrella name that encompasses more than Telehealth.
Included is Electronic Client Records that can host: medical, pharmaceutical, digital imaging (x-rays), scheduling of equipment and appointments, and provide information and resources
Panorama is the program of choice for the Nation’s Public Health Surveillance.
The eHealth Infoway funded Panorama is scheduled for roll out in 2010

The Polycom HDX9000 camera is a high definition video camera that connects to a FNIH owned bridge located in Vancouver
The camera can answer and dial video conference calls via a high-speed internet connection.
SN Telehealth maintains a separate internet connection, to ensure its connectivity does not affect our internal servers.

Camera Monitor

A main objective of SN Telehealth is to maintain a network of communication with the BC First Nations eHealth Centre of Excellence Society
One of the first steps of the CoE will be the First Nation Telehealth Expansion Project. This project will build capacity and develop clinical telehealth abilities
Partnership with the CoE enables Sto:lo Health to become a “Hub First Nation Health Centre”. Achieving HUB status will allow for greater funding opportunities and stability for eHealth.

Some Examples are:

TeleHomecare - IHA
TeleThoracic – VIHA, VCH, FHA, NHA
TeleOncology – VIHA, PHSA, FHA, NHA
TeleWoundcare - NHA
TeleOphthalmology – VIHA, ITHA
Info can be reviewed on these programs via the First Nations Health Council website http://www.fnhc.ca/pdf/eHealth_Sto_Lo_Health_Conference_2009.pdf
This was a presentation given by Mark Sommerfeld FNHC, Jeffrey Yu FNIHB, Jeff Aitken Ministry of Health at the Sto:lo Health Conference February 12th 2009

I’ve been voted to a board member seat on the Canadian Society of Telehealth http://www.cst-sct.org
I have been recently appointed chairperson of a CST special interest group, the Aboriginal Telehealth Knowledge Circle
These groups are currently forming a merger with a larger group COACH, Canada Health Informatics. http://coachorg.com
This merger will grant us access to a network of more than 1500 health technology professionals

International Telehealth includes; CST, ATKC, COACH, ATA
These groups allow SN Telehealth communications at an international forum.
I have met with people from the USA’s American Telemedicine Association and Brazil Ministry of Health.
In the future, we will be able to help each other with new health technologies and international aboriginal health services.
Brazilian Indigenous peoples seem to share familiar stories and commonalities with our own aboriginal population (diabetes, infant mortality rates, addictions, poverty and social issues)
USA’s ATA is looking at us to see how we are able to work with the governments to find better health care solutions and gain representation for their Native populations.

Steven Raphael
Telehealth Migration Specialist