Avera Wins American Telemedicine Association Award

Avera's telehealth program was recently presented with the American Telemedicine Association's 2009 Presidential Institutional Award at the association's national conference in Las Vegas, Nev. The conference attracted more than 2,700 attendees from 50 different countries.

The American Telemedicine Association hosts the largest international telemedicine-related conference. The President's Awards for the Advancement of Telemedicine are presented annually. The institutional award recognizes leadership, breadth, depth and effectiveness of programs and services.  The recipient must also serve as a international model for the implementation of telemedicine, telehealth or e-health. Eighty applications were submitted.  The four finalists were from Indiana, Wisconsin, England and South Dakota.

"We are very pleased that our program has been recognized as one of the top telehealth and e-health programs in the world," said Dr. David Erickson, chief medical officer for Avera.  "The Avera program has been providing the highest level of quality and technology to people across the region for more than 15 years.  It is an honor to be seen as a role model for other programs."

Avera telehealth is part of Avera eCARE™ and includes more than a dozen specialties provided by more than 28 providers.  In addition to specialty consultations and distance learning, Avera eCARE currently includes the first rural application of eICU®, an intensive care monitoring system supporting rural-based facilities, physicians and patients and eNursery, which offers video connections directly to the Avera neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric ICU.  Plans to expand Avera eCARE are currently underway and incorporate pharmacy, emergency/trauma, home health and urgent care applications.

These services are supported by an extensive information technology network.  The Avera Health system has been recognized as a "100 Most Wired" health system by Hospitals & Health Networks ten years in a row. Avera is a partner in the Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center, one of six federally-funded telehealth resource centers in the nation.

eICU®, is a registered trademark of Visicu, Inc.