University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health (UK CERH) announced that video highlights and recorded sessions from the 2023 Kentucky Rural Telehealth Summit are available. More than 200 people attended the event held in September in Lexington.
The summit included remarks by Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman highlighting the need for expanded broadband connections in rural communities, as well as a keynote address by Steven Stack, MD, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Public Health, who spoke on "The Intersection of Telehealth and Public Health."
Kathy Wibberly, director of the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center, and Anna Whites, a Kentucky attorney and expert in telehealth, presented a plenary session offering a broad overview of how telehealth will look in the post-pandemic public health emergency era, as well as two breakout sessions in the afternoon that took a deeper dive into the topic and provided attendees with resources to take home.
Attendees heard from an expert panel that showcased six unique ways telehealth is reaching patients throughout Kentucky. A broad range of topics were provided during the breakout sessions, including remote patient monitoring, dental telehealth, funding opportunities and training for the next generation of health care professionals.
The closing keynote address was provided by John Barto, chief digital transformation officer at US-Microsoft Health and Life Sciences. His session focused on overcoming the challenges such as the digital divide, enabling geographically separated patients to have face-to-face interactions with medical professionals, and the use of today’s technology capabilities to close gaps in care for people living in rural communities.
“We are fortunate to once again have a dedicated group of telehealth experts from across the Commonwealth and beyond that came together to plan and present this summit for the second year,” said UK CERH Director Fran Feltner, DNP “We are already planning for next year’s summit. Be sure to save the date of Sept. 26, 2024,” said Feltner.
View video highlights of the summit here. Recorded presentations from the summit are available to view upon request. Contact Wayne Noble for more information (wayne.noble@uky.edu or 606-439-3557).