New legislation recently passed in Wyoming will increase the state’s capacity to provide telehealth services to the residents of a state with one of the highest rural populations of any in the U.S. The law gives the Wyoming Department of Health’s office of rural health the ability to work collaboratively with other states and organizations to expand telehealth networks within the state.
In recent years, the use of telehealth has grown significantly in Wyoming, as funding has increased and new projects have been implemented. For example, a $500,000 project begun in 2007 connects 24 hospitals across the state for videoconferencing; other hospitals offer online education courses for medical professionals. As Rex Gantenbein, director of the Center for Rural Health Research and Education at the University of Wyoming, explained, “There’s been an increasing amount of interest in it to the point now where most of the hospitals in the state have some telehealth capacity.”
Although expanding telemedicine within Wyoming remains a priority for medical professionals within the state, many envision the possibility of a national telehealth network, connecting Wyoming patients with specialists all around the country. Dr. James Bush of the Wyoming Department of Health, who is involved in the construction of Wyoming’s telehealth network, pointed to the significant amount of money that patients would be able to save by no longer having to travel hundreds of miles to see specialists. Although medical licensing laws, to an extent, still stand in the way of such a nationwide network, Bush is hopeful that providers and licensing boards will be able to work together to develop regulations that protect patients while still expanding their access to care. Said Bush, “We could have more access to super specialists all around the country.”
Click here for more information on Wyoming's telehealth legislation.
