We conducted a feasibility study to assess user satisfaction with and the cost-effectiveness of a rheumatology telehealth clinic in northern Alberta. Six telehealth clinics were organized between a rural health centre and the specialist rheumatology centre, which was about a 4 h drive away. Fifty-two new patients were seen. Their median age was 54 years (range 7-81 years). After the teleconsultation, no patient required a conventional face-to-face consultation. Overall, patients agreed that the teleconsultation met their needs and that the care they received was as good as conventional care. The physicians involved in the study thought the process practical and effective. The total costs of service delivery would be equal for teleconsultation and for traditional consultation at a workload of 247 consultations a year.

A Canadian project (the National Initiative for Telehealth Guidelines) was established to develop telehealth guidelines that would be used by health professionals, by telehealth providers as benchmarks for standards of service and by accrediting agencies for accreditation criteria. An environmental scan was conducted, which focused on organizational, human resource, clinical and technological issues. A literature review, a stakeholder survey (245 mail-outs, 84 complete responses) and 48 key informant interviews were conducted. A framework of guidelines was developed and published as a preliminary step towards pan-Canadian policies. Interim recommendations were that organizations and jurisdictions might consider formal agreements to specify: (1) organizational interoperability; (2) technical interoperability; (3) personnel requirements; (4) quality and continuity-of-care responsibilities; (5) telehealth services; (6) remuneration; and (7) quality assurance processes. An additional recommendation was that flexible mechanisms were needed to ensure that accreditation criteria will be realistic and achievable in the context of rapid changes in technology, service integration and delivery, as well as in the context of operating telehealth services in remote or underserved areas.

We conducted a feasibility study to assess user satisfaction with and the cost-effectiveness of a rheumatology telehealth clinic in northern Alberta. Six telehealth clinics were organized between a rural health centre and the specialist rheumatology centre, which was about a 4 h drive away. Fifty-two new patients were seen. Their median age was 54 years (range 7-81 years). After the teleconsultation, no patient required a conventional face-to-face consultation. Overall, patients agreed that the teleconsultation met their needs and that the care they received was as good as conventional care. The physicians involved in the study thought the process practical and effective. The total costs of service delivery would be equal for teleconsultation and for traditional consultation at a workload of 247 consultations a year.

We developed an off-the-shelf system to transfer DICOM-compliant ultrasound images from a small rural hospital in northern Alberta to an urban radiology clinic in Calgary. The transfer time was less than 30 s per image. The radiologist could then review the case and release the patient. The radiologist could also switch to realtime videoconferencing mode and direct the rural ultrasound technician to obtain additional images of the patient.

“The training I received from PLYMC’s Kindergarten Readiness Workshop didn’t simply help me to understand the number of ways our libraries are striving to support school readiness, it enabled me to effectively communicate with and engage parents and caregivers as to how they can be active participants in this endeavor as well. The workshop group activities created a dialogue that allowed me to internalize what we learned from the assigned readings by coming up with and discussing the different ways learning domains can be implemented in practice.”—Marnie Alvarez, Readers’ Services Librarian, Main LibraryThe growth articulated here is the result of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County’s (PLYMC) Kindergarten Readiness Initiative. Mahoning County (OH) has a long history of supporting early literacy. After reviewing kindergarten readiness assessment results for our county, we realized we could strengthen our value in the community by articulating how we support all school readiness domains and look for ways to increase support to families who most need kindergarten readiness support.