Great things happen when people work together toward a common goal.
Cumming, GA (PRWEB) February 10, 2014
HomeTown Health, in partnership with the National School of Applied Telehealth, has partnered with The New College Institute (NCI) and the University of Virginia (UVA) Center for Telehealth to launch the first telehealth certification program in the state of Virginia.
“We are very excited to partner with the NCI and UVA in providing online education, training and certifications for their program. The future of healthcare most certainly integrates telemedicine and telehealth, and we are proud to be a part of educating certified healthcare leaders in this field,” says Kristy Thomson, HTHU Director of Education.
The new Southside Telehealth Training Academy and Resource Center (STAR) offers training for health care providers to become certified as telehealth presenters or coordinators.
"Great things happen when people work together toward a common goal," said Dr. Karen Rheuban, Director of the UVA Center for Telehealth. “Training healthcare workers to use telehealth and patient monitoring technologies will aid them in providing high-quality care and service to their patients, In many cases, telemedicine enables patients to stay within their local community or hospital setting without having to travel. And it provides an opportunity for our university physicians to serve patients who might not be able to receive treatment otherwise,” added Rheuban.
Utilizing two of the three available certifications from the National School of Applied Telehealth, http://www.nationalschoolofappliedtelehealth.com, the STAR program offers two tracks: one for clinicians, to help them conduct virtual encounters between patients and doctors; and one for non-clinicians, to help them manage and operate telehealth programs and equipment.
“When considering the scope of healthcare and the various components it takes to deliver quality services, STAR not only offers training for clinicians, but administrators, IT professionals, and office personnel as well,” stated NCI Executive Director William Wampler.
Successful completion of the program will result in a Certificate as either a Telemedicine Clinical Presenter/Technology Professional or a Telehealth Coordinator/Technology Professional through the National School of Applied Telehealth.
Launched in 2011, NSAT provides education in the form of the 3 telehealth/telemedicine certifications to Telehealth professionals in more than 32 different states and 3 different countries. Formed as part of an educational outreach program between the Global Partnership for Telehealth (formally Georgia Partnership for Telehealth) and the Southeastern Telehealth Resources Center, the National School of Applied Telehealth provides education from a collaboration of telemedicine and telehealth practitioners and providers.
Rena Brewer, RN, MA, Director, SE Telehealth Resource Center states, “The NSAT courses are meeting an educational need of those healthcare workers who have no telehealth experience and are being asked to set up and implement telehealth programs in their health care settings. We are proud to offer them the resources to start successful programs and be successful employees.”
This year through the partnership with the STAR program, the first 250 registrants working or living in Virginia will have the opportunity to complete certifications tuition-free through June 30, 2014. To learn more about STAR programs, including course descriptions and enrollment, please visit http://www.startelehealth.org.
About the STAR Program
Partial funding for the STAR program is made possible by the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) by grant T55HP20285 from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the VHWDA or Department of Health and Human Services nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
About the National School of Applied Telehealth
The National School of Applied TeleHealth (NSAT) provides healthcare information and education for providers and consumers through the development of a virtual “School for Applied Telehealth.” The National School of Applied Telehealth certification courses will teach the essentials of TeleHealth and prepare individuals to become valuable members of a telemedicine team. The online certifications available below are being offered to you on the internet any time, through HomeTown Health, LLC, and HomeTown Health University, http://www.hthu.net, an IACET Authorized Provider. The NSAT content was developed in cooperation with the Southeastern Telehealth Resource Center, made possible by grant number G22RH20212 from the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, Health Resources and Services Administration, DHHS, and in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Telehealth, http://www.gatelehealth.org. Visit NSAT at http://www.nationalschoolofappliedtelehealth.com. For more information contact, Rena Brewer, RN, MA, SETRC / NSAT Director, rena(at)brewer(at)gatelehealth(dot)org, telephone: 912.285.0904.