Yesterday I spoke with Karen Welle, who was gracious enough to talk to me on the day after Christmas about the Greater Minnesota Telehealth Broadband Initiative.

Our conversation left me feeling very positive about the future of telelhealth in Minnesota and reminded me about the good, the bad, and the ugly of receiving federal funds.

A quick background:

In November (2007), the FCC dedicated more than $417 million for the construction of 69 statewide or regional broadband telehealth networks  in 42 states and three U.S. territories under the Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP).

In Minnesota, the Greater Minnesota Telehealth Broadband Initiative was submitted by an alliance of the Minnesota Telehealth Network, Medi-sota Network, North Region Health Alliance, SISU Medical Systems and Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs, New Connections. Their plan was to build upon an established vision of a strong integrated rural telehealth care delivery system supported by a telecommunications infrastructure that will ultimately allow any patient in any community in Minnesota and bordering states to connect to any provider in Minnesota and beyond. The goal is to promote technical standards and operational best practices to reduce costs, boost performance, and improve user-friendliness of telehealth application. Continue reading →