 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Neal A. Demby, DMD, MPH and Susan L. Dietrich, DMD. Department of Dental Medicine, Lutheran Medical Center, 150 55th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11220, 718-630-7177, ndemby@foxcarenetwork.com
Telemedicine is defined as the use of electronic information and communication technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates participants. Applications that fall within the rubric of telemedicine include clinical services and consultations, support of patient and professional education, and real time transmission of administrative meetings. Few studies have tracked expenses related to clinical telemedicine services and virtually no reliable cost effectiveness studies are available. Further there are no studies that assess the cost of providing a comprehensive distance learning based curriculum in dental education or within a postdoctoral residency training milieu. Lutheran Medical Center (LMC), over the past decade, has sponsored an innovative national residency training program that places residents in extramural sites (Community Health Centers) as a means of assuring access to oral health services for underserved populations. The CHCs provide excellent and diverse clinical experiences however lack the resources required to assure a didactic curriculum that will meet accreditation standards. The partnerships developed between LMC and each CHC eliminate that potential barrier. All sites are linked via a complex video teleconferencing and distance learning network. This study is believed to be the first to describe a methodology for and data on the cost per curriculum hour and per resident on a large cohort of over 200 residents. Standard cost accounting procedures are used to measure costs. Data presented lend credence to the cost effectiveness of distance learning applications within postdoctoral residency programs, while increasing access for the underserved as well as assuring educational equity.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access to Care, Distance Learning
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.