Thinking of linking but concerned about costs?

Grant programs, Web sites offer help

Scared to even propose a telemedicine program to your hospital administrator for fear of being subjected to a discussion about budget cuts? Concerned that your therapists and patients would recoil at the idea of video linkage as a proper substitute for one-on-one, in-person patient care? Help exists from a number of Internet and government sources.

Resources you may want to check out include the following:

Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. Address: 979 Rollins Ave., Rockville, MD, 20852. Telephone: (301) 443-0447. Fax: (301) 443-1330. Web site: HYPERLINK http://telehealth.hrsa.gov/services.htm. In 1998, the office administrated 41 telehealth and telemedicine grants in 29 states totaling more than $13.6 million. The institution plans to distribute information this fall on how to respond to a request for proposals that would distribute between $5 million and $8 million in funds in 2000. The organization’s Web site offers a number of links to other telemedicine sites as well as databases, journal articles, legal information, and news updates.

Other helpful Web sites include:

HYPERLINK http://www.tmgateway.org

A federal telemedicine gateway Web site; a telemedicine information exchange site.

HYPERLINK http://tie.telemed.org

Offers resources, classified ads, and other information exchange vehicles.

HYPERLINK http://www.atmeda.org

The American Telemedicine Association Web site.

A listserve used by many telemedicine project officials can be accessed via the University of Missouri. To sign up, contact Joe Tracy at the University of Missouri by e-mail at HYPERLINK mailto:[email protected] or HYPERLINK mailto: [email protected].