In keeping with the purpose of the Heritable Disorders Program, a telecommunication infrastructure has been developed and implemented as a Regional Collaborative system for enhancing,improving, and expanding the ability of health care professionals to provide quality health care services for children with heritable disorders and their families.The telecommunication project will continue to be a core activity and will provide an integral cross-project tool within Southeast Genetics that also offers the capability for intra-regional collaboration.
During the next 5 year grant period, activities planned to accomplish Goal 4 will be focused onachieving 2 major objectives which build on the achievements of the initial collaborative period.The Southeast Genetics telecommunication system provides an existing infrastructure that effectively facilitates collaborative partnerships in all 10 states and territories.This system will continue to support the telecommunications project, as described in Objective 1.Objective 2 focuses on our intention to expand this existing telecommunication capability and initiate a telemedicine project.
Novel softwares have been recently developed to simply and inexpensively use the internet to hold audio/videoteleconferences with several "seats" simultaneously. These softwares make telecommunication among regional collaborators, as well as telemedicine outreach clinics and inpatient consultations convenient and effective. This technology can help remove the barrier of distance in access to genetic care and minimize the problem of insufficient numbers of genetic services professionals by making access to their expertise available to larger numbers of patients without respect to geography.
Membership
Goals and Objectives
Expand regional telecommunication infrastructures to facilitate information sharing among providers of genetic services, other health-care professionals, and consumers; and develop regional telemedicine care systems to increase access to care for children and adults with genetic conditions.
Objective 1: Maintain and strengthen the existing SERGG telecommunication program to support two components: a telegenetics collaboration linking regional genetics specialty centers, public health professionals, laboratorians, and consumers in a forum for regional project planning and sharing of expertise; and an educational component expanding access to genetics information to caregivers and consumers in a medical home.
Objective 2: Expand and extend the existing SERGG, Inc. telecommunication program to support a telemedicine component.
