Virginia 2008 - Global e-health Symposium

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The morning session of the global e-health symposium included reports on interprofessional e-health, the telehealth for under-served communities initiative, and e-health policy; as well as presentations on the University of Virginia's telehealth programame; health information exchange within the American context; and developments in telerehabilitation at the University of Queensland. During the afternoon, the U21 Health Sciences e-health steering committee met to reflect on developments to date and to determine future directions.

Developments in interprofessional (IP) e-health to date include preparation of a paper based on a study of interprofessional e-health within the U21 network, submitted for publication to the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and development of a survey featuring interprofessional e-health projects within U21.

It was recognized that there was synergy between the UN MDG work being undertaken and a proposed U21 IP e-health project to link with a less economically developed country (LEDC) to explore ehealth success and needs, and to learn and understand how best to support ehealth within that context.

As Chair of the IP e-health steering committee, Kendall Ho reported to the Executive on the proposed project and potential synegy with the UN MDG initiative, in terms of both education and clinical activities. The Executive acknowledged the importance of interprofessional involvement and input in the development of the UN MDG introductory course, noting that the proposed project with a designated LEDC would incorporate e-health into the UN MDG needs assessment.

Telehealth developments include the 'telehealth to under-served communities' initiative involving facilitation of electronic specialist advice to doctors on-site by U21 medical students. In 2008-2009, work will be undertaken to develop robust mechanisms to manage future student placements. Global e-health steering committee members are contributing authors in a book titled 'Telehealth in the developing world' to be published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press in February 2009. The book focuses on successful telehealth solutions in the developing world.

Developments in e-health policy to date include the e-health conference series funded by the Rockefeller Foundation culminating in a series of proposals including development of e-health resources, networks and marketing/communication strategies. A major focus for the e-health steering committee in 2008-2009 will be the development of strategies to ensure momentum on e-health policy within the WHO e-health working group.

The U21 e-health symposium programme [PDF 21.7kB]

U21 Interprofessional e-health report [PDF 545kB] (Kendall Ho)

University of Virginia Telemedicine Programme [PDF 508kB] (Karen Rheuban)

The Digital Transformation of American Medicine [PDF 684kB] (Marshall Ruffin)

Developments in Telerehabilitation  [PDF 8.68MB] (Trevor Russell)

WHO GOe-U21 Global e-Health Policy Committee [PDF 375kB] (Richard Scott)