Concept of Operations for the use of Telemedicine in the Air Force

• Vision: Provide Seamless Delivery of Healthcare and Improve Quality of Care

• Deployed to evaluate efficiency and effectiveness

  • Sites: Wilford Hall (Region 6); ACC for SWA Facilities (DESERTCARE); David Grant (Region 10)
  • Uses: Teleradiology; Teleconsulting; Distance Learning

• Benefits: Force Multiplier of Scarce Personnel and Resources; Improved Educational Opportunities and Improved Troop Morale

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Telemedicine deployed extensively in Region 6 as a test site (Wilford Hall, 4 Army MTFs and 1 Navy)

• Region 6 Purpose: To ensure less A/E and lost duty time
• Region 6 Telemedicine uses: Patient education; Distant Learning informatics course offered weekly by University, Texas
• Region 6 Result: less money used, freed money for other CME. Teleconsult is used mainly in a store forward mode

ACC: Uses Teleradiology and Telemedicine for deployed facilities in SWA (DESERTCARE); Enhances A/E care to allow consultation in flight

Deployed in Alaska in collaboration with Indian Affairs

Region 10: Originally consisted of over 585,000 beneficiaries supported by 3 med centers, two community hospitals and 12 clinics. BRAC hit northern California especially hard and as a result 330,000 beneficiaries are supported by only one tertiary care facility (David Grant), one community hospital (US Navy) and seven clinics (USAF, USN, USA, USCG). Two of these remaining clinics slated for closure.
• Uses: Distant Learning and Internet based Encrypted Teleconsaulting. Telemedicine Lab funded and COTS integrated systems tested/deployed (T-Derm, T-Tumor Boards, T-Path, etc)
  Results: CBA confirmed telemedicine is a proven cost saver and access to care force multiplier. 1st Encrypted, Store & Forward, and Internet Based T-Derm program in DoD.