Purpose

Appropriates $500,000 from the general fund in each of fiscal years 2001-2002 and for 2002-2003 to the University of Arizona for continued expansion of the Arizona Telemedicine Program.

Background

The Arizona Telemedicine Program is a multidisciplinary clinical program of The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center. The program was created in 1996 at the initiation of the Arizona legislature to establish pilot projects demonstrating the efficacy of telemedicine in delivering better health care to Arizona's medically under served rural areas. Specifically, the legislature funded an eight-site Arizona Rural Telemedicine Network as part of a general appropriation to The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center's operating budget. Advocates argue that rising costs of health care leads to closures of critically needed hospitals and clinics in rural Arizona communities and that telemedicine offer a cost-effective alternative to expensive transportation to urban hospitals. Further benefits include cost-savings and less time delays for outside referrals from Arizona Department of Corrections institutions, which utilize the network.

The original eight-site program has been augmented by federal grants from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Health and Human Services. Multi-specialty sites now include areas like Douglas, Nogales, Patagonia, and Payson as well as multiple Department of Corrections sites. In 1999, connections were added to the Flagstaff Medical Center and to the Northern Arizona Behavioral Health Authority (NARBHA) and additional sites.

In addition to its clinical programs, the Arizona Telemedicine Program is doing research in areas of technology assessment and cost-benefit analyses of telemedicine. The program also operates a telemedicine-training center that offers instruction in telemedicine procedures to healthcare professionals throughout the state.

Provisions

1. Appropriates $500,000 from the general fund in each of fiscal years 2001-2002 and for 2002-2003 to the University of Arizona for continued expansion of the Arizona Telemedicine Program

2. Provides for a general effective date.

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