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Background |
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1995, Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health
Authority (NARBHA) applied for grant funding from
the Arizona Department of Health Services to develop
a telemedicine network in Northern Arizona. Telemedicine
was an excellent fit for Northern Arizona because
of the large geographic area (62,000 square miles);
sparse population; long drive times for providers,
patients, and staff; and difficulty recruiting
and retaining psychiatrists in the outlying, isolated
small towns. Funding was approved, and by November
1996, Arizona's first interactive telemedicine network,
NARBHAnet, was up and running with a videoconferencing
bridge and six endpoints. |
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Since
then, NARBHAnet:
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has grown to 70 directly connected endpoints (10 video rooms at
NARBHA’s Flagstaff headquarters; 36 clinic locations spread throughout Arizona; 5 Arizona
State Hospital sites in Phoenix; the Arizona
Council and Foundation for Human Services
Providers in Phoenix; and the Navajo, Gila River and White Mountain Apache Regional Behavioral Health Authorities in Window Rock, Sacaton and Whiteriver), plus 4 psychiatric providers that dial in from out of state and 5 from in-state.
- has
accommodated more than 69,000 clinical sessions.
- has
been recognized as a national leader in telemedicine.
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was listed among Telemedicine and Telehealth
Networks Magazine’s “Top Ten”
Telemedicine Programs in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
- was featured in a chapter of the book E-Therapy, edited by Robert C. Hsiung and published in 2002.
- was featured in the New York Times in 2006.
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Since
the establishment of NARBHA's telemedicine network
14 years ago, NARBHA has assisted and collaborated
with other agencies statewide to create a strong,
viable, highly utilized network that:
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provides easily accessible psychiatric care
to patients in remote areas
- allows
case management and face-to-face psychiatric
consultations without travel
- disseminates
formal trainings and Continuing Medical Education
units to any endpoint on the network
- allows
agency and provider staff to meet without
leaving their work sites
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