Click here to learn more about the SEARCH2017
Fall Symposium!
Submission deadline for abstracts and didactics is August 1!
The South Central Telehealth Resource Center and the newly-formed Society for Education and the Advancement of Research in Connected Health (SEARCH) recently hosted SEARCH2017, a telehealth research symposium, at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 4 & 5.
The event showcased connected health efforts, strategies and partnerships, specifically those focused on the research of telemedicine, telehealth, eHealth, mHealth and other healthcare technologies. Over 80 speakers and guests spent one and one-half days discussing how to advance education and research for connected health systems. Attendees represented both non-profit and for-profit organizations.
A plenary presentation was given by Elizabeth Krupinski, PhD, FSIIM, FSPIE, FATA, Professor & Vice Chair for Research, Emory University; Southwest Telehealth Resource Center. She spoke to attendees about the need for research in healthcare technology.
Krupinski said, “The SEARCH meeting was one of the most lively and invigorating meetings related to telehealth that I have been to in a number of years. The level of enthusiasm for creating a society and a regular venue dedicated to research methods, results, reporting and training in those aspects of research in the field was refreshing. The opportunity to create and be a part of a society focused on bringing together investigators from different backgrounds and institutions to form significant and meaningful collaborations for pursuing grant funding and collecting outcomes data on a broader scale than typically achieved is not only exciting but will help take telehealth to the next level.”
The afternoon keynote presentation was given by Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mehrotra expressed the need for research to be focused on outcomes at the population level to demonstrate the telehealth value for our patients as well as for policymakers.
Panel discussions were also held on the topics of Research in Connected Health Technologies, Telemedicine Research & Overcoming Barriers; Evaluating a Telemedicine Program; Developing Educational Programs to Teach Students How to Incorporate Connected Health; and Strategic Collaborations and Future Directions.
Seventeen poster abstracts were presented during the poster session. Awards were given in three categories: People’s Choice, Judge’s Choice and Honorable Mention. Award winners are listed below.
People’s Choice Award
Utilization patterns in a rural school-based telemedicine program: A three-year analysis
Steve North, MD, MPH and Amanda Martin, MHA
Judge’s Choice Award
Improving Access to Pediatric Subspecialty Care via Telemedicine: Delivery of Outpatient Pediatric Endocrinology Services to Remove California Communities
Stephanie S. Crossen MD, MPH; Parul Dayal, MS; Ilana S. Sigal MPH; Jamie L. Kissee, MA; James P. Marcin MD, MPH; Dennis M. Styne MD
Honorable Mentions
Telemedical postoperative care of thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy patients
Edmund Pribitkin MD, MBA; Carrie Jamison RN; Julie Ketrick, RN
Strategies for Increasing User Compliance with Remote Patient Monitoring in Postpartum Hypertensive Women
Christian Lynch MPH; Sarah Rhoads PhD, DNP, APRN; Hari Eswaran, PhD; C. Heath Gauss, MS
Dr. Judd Hollander, Associate Dean for Strategic Health Initiatives, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, and Vice Chair for Finance and Healthcare Enterprises, Department of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, said, “The SEARCH meeting had a phenomenal collection of individuals all intensely focused on enhancing the evidence base behind clinical care being done by telemedicine. Only through robust assessments of our clinical and educational programs can we optimally advance the care our patients so desperately need.”
This event marked the initial meeting of the Society for Education and the Advancement of Research in Connected Health (SEARCH). A SEARCH fall meeting will be held on October 5 & 6 in Philadelphia. Registration is open for the event.
Watch the LearnTelehealth.org website for updates. To be included on future announcements, send an email request to ResearchConnectedHealth@gmail.com.
