Telehealth Technology Telegram

Welcome to our Telehealth Partners In an effort to provide better communication to all of our member sites, we are developing this quarterly email update to keep you informed and to provide additional resources. We encourage feedback on how UTN can improve services and communicate technology updates more effectively.

Network Sevices UETN continues to work through the process of establishing new contracts with service providers for network services to member sites for another five-year cycle and apply for funding from Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). All new contracts for services will begin July 1, 2022.  In almost all cases, we were able to increase circuit speeds up to 1 Gbps for all member sites and reduce fees at the same time. All current service contracts end on June 30th, and UTN will begin the process of installing new services in July. Along with the new circuits, we will be replacing most of the equipment at each site as well. The new equipment will include a Cisco 9300 switch and a Palo Alto firewall.  Please let UTN know if there are any questions about this process: info@utn.org.

Security Services UETN will be transitioning to the Palo Alto firewall platform for our Managed Security Services this summer, in conjunction with new circuit installations and upgrades. The Palo Alto platform offers superior performance and advanced features including a more robust management system, making it easier to upgrade all devices at once.  If you have any questions about this change in firewall vendor, please contact UTN at info@utn.org.

Telehealth Success Story  UETN continues to deploy more instances of the VisuWell telemedicine platform and VisuWell’s Virtriage tool to our member sites. Right now, eight organizations are using the platform across 35 suborganizations for an average of 1,400 encounters/patient visits per month.  For instance, Gunnison Valley Hospital has teamed up with Barney Trucking to provide a workman’s comp medical service utilizing using the Virtriage tool.  The idea is to reduce the number of emergency room visits for employees by offering an alternative health option for minor injuries. An employee simply texts a number on their cell phone, and the response to the text provides a web link that will guide them to a small diagnostic assessment tree through Virtriage.  Once the questions are answered, the tool creates an appointment for the employee to speak with a designated provider at Gunnison Valley Hospital to assess the employee's needs further.  If you are not currently using VisuWell or Virtriage and want to get started using the VisuWell platform or VisuWell’s Virtriage tool, please reach out to the UTN team at info@utn.org.

Nominations for Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Excellence Award The 3rd annual Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Excellence Award will open for nominations on April 4, 2022. This award is presented annually to a person or organization in Utah that has accomplished outstanding work in the field of telehealth, including the areas of policy development, innovative programs and activities, technology, patient and or provider support, education and training. UTN encourages nominations for this award.