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July 24, 2008HHS Secretary Leavitt Travels to Alaska to Advance Rural Health Initiatives |
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From HHS News and Events: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt is visiting southern Alaska this week to strengthen efforts to enhance health care delivery to Alaska Native communities and to observe best practices in the region. The three-day trip, which begins today, includes visits to two Alaska Native villages and two regional Tribal health consortiums to better understand the challenges of access to care; meetings with Tribal leaders to discuss the health care goals of the Alaska Native people; and demonstrations of how telemedicine and telehealth are employed to increase access and quality of care to Alaska Native communities. Telemedicine is being used to exchange medical information from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patient health. Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care. "While Alaska faces unique access to care challenges, the health care delivery systems in place serve as model of effective telehealth and telemedicine for other rural communities," Secretary Leavitt said. This bold vision for the health care system includes advancing interoperable health information technology; measuring and publishing price information to give consumers information they need to make better decisions on purchasing health care; measuring and publishing quality information to enable consumers to make better decisions about their care; and promoting incentives for quality and efficiency of care. Alaska was one of five states which had the highest participation rates in the nation based on population. Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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