This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the American Telemedicine Association. Over the last two decades, ATA has evolved, embracing the ongoing changes in medical technology, telecommunications modalities and the delivery of healthcare.
Initially planned as a society of clinical professionals, ATA has developed into an association representing a wide variety of individuals and organizations, including clinicians, administrators, healthcare systems, companies and other stakeholders involved in delivering health services over distances. Our expanding membership reflects transitions in the industry itself.
Telemedicine has traditionally been defined by hub-and-spoke networks – the connection of academic medical centers to regional clinics, in order to serve rural communities. While these networks still play an important role in both telemedicine and ATA, new business models and industry forces have emerged. New players include companies developing consumer-based mobile health applications, online consultative services and outsourced clinical service providers. These organizations are radically changing the delivery of telemedicine – and healthcare services at-large.
Further change is evidenced in the growing importance of telemedicine in the core business plans of health systems. Whereas telemedicine was once a peripheral service for many providers, today it has been integrated into those organizations' central strategic plans. An important example of this is Mercy Health, based in St. Louis, Mo. Mercy, the sixth largest Catholic healthcare system in the United States, serves more than 3 million people annually. It is currently in the process of building a $90 million virtual care center along with a new specialty hospital and corporate offices. The center will enable Mercy to consolidate various telemedicine services at one site. Mercy estimates that using the center to provide shared specialty services and coordinated care with more service sites and easier access can reduce the cost of an emergency room visit alone by $4,000 per patient.
As the practice of telemedicine has evolved and diversified, ATA has expanded the services it provides to the industry. In less than four years attendance at ATA's annual meeting has doubled. Online educational and social networking services are now a mainstay of the association, involving thousands of professionals from throughout the world. ATA has become the recognized authority for public policy makers from state capitols to Washington to Wall Street and to the world. So far this year, ATA has been working with legislators in more than 20 states as they introduce legislation expanding the use of remote health services.
Most importantly, ATA is helping to foster the ongoing growth of telemedicine through the establishment of standards and guidelines. Over the past several years, the association designed and validated a framework to develop such practice guidelines covering a host of clinical and health services. Seven such guidelines are under development this year alone. ATA's leadership in developing practice guidelines for telemedicine has been critical in order to promote adoption, assure quality and limit overuse. In short, ATA's best practices are transforming what was a once series of demonstrations and pilot projects into an industry.
As we look ahead to the next 20 years, ATA will continue to support and facilitate the expansion of telemedicine, both in the United States and around the globe. Our mission is – and will continue to be – to ensure that consumers and patients throughout the world have access to health services regardless of their location.
