The California Telehealth Network (CTN) is the product of an
unprecedented coalition of stakeholders. This large and diverse
group of partners will work together to create new
telecommunications infrastructure, eventually allowing
California’s rural communities to access a broad range of
technology-enhanced services to improve the quality of health
care services.
The CTN project intends to leverage and build upon California’s
historic and recent investments in telehealth. In the last few
years, a number of exciting initiatives have been launched in
California to advance the use of telecommunications and health
care technology. Significant among these are Governor
Schwarzenegger’s Health Information Technology (HIT) Executive
Order (S-12-06, signed July 2006), which allocated $240 million
to achieve full information exchange between health care
providers and stakeholders within ten years and his Broadband
Executive Order (S-23-06, signed November 2006) which established
a broadband task force to promote broadband access and usage.
Also important are the efforts of the California Emerging
Technology Fund (CETF), the California Telemedicine & eHealth
Center’s (CTEC’s) regional eHealth networks, the California
Teleconnect Fund (administered by the California Public Utilities
Commission), and the University of California’s Proposition 1D
funding.
California Broad Band Task Force: Begun under Governor
Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order (EO) S-23-06, the California
Broadband Task Force (CBTF) was created to “bring together public
and private stakeholders to remove barriers to broadband access,
identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption, and
enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication
technologies.” The Governor appointed Task Force members on
November 30, 2006 and the Task Force held its first meeting on
January 18, 2007. The EO charged the Task Force with developing
two reports. The first report included recommendations for
“administrative actions that can result in immediate promotion of
broadband access and usage.” The second and final report was
especially innovative in that it was the first survey in the
United States to provide household-level information about
broadband service availability statewide. In it, the Task Force
concluded that “increasing both access to and use of broadband
will build economic capital, strengthen public safety resources,
improve living standards, expand educational and healthcare
opportunities, and raise the levels of civic engagement and
governmental transparency.”
California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF): The California
Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) was established and funded by the
SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI merger agreements approved by the
California Public Utilities Commission in November 2005. CETF
focuses on “achieving ubiquitous access to broadband and advanced
services in California, particularly in underserved communities
through the use of existing and emerging technologies.”
California Telemedicine & eHealth Center: Created in 1997,
the California Telemedicine & eHealth Center facilitated the
growth of telemedicine and eHealth in California by working
collaboratively with hospitals, clinics, county and state
agencies, federal and state legislative policy makers,
community-based organizations, and other non-profit entities
throughout the state. CTEC has made significant contributions
toward increasing the technological expertise of California
health care organizations through capacity building, training,
education, and re-granting. In particular, CTEC has emerged as
the primary source for hospitals and clinics in promoting the use
of telemedicine and eHealth within underserved communities.
California Teleconnect Fund (CTF): The California Teleconnect
Fund (CTF) provides discounts on advanced telecommunications
services, i.e., broadband, for qualifying schools, hospitals,
libraries and community-based organizations, including community
technology programs. The Fund was created to reduce the digital
divide, and the CTF discount provides a way to ensure community
technology centers and other nonprofit entities can afford to
provide their communities with Internet-enabled technology
services such as Internet training, telemedicine and distance
learning. CTF provides an ongoing 50 percent discount to connect
to the Internet. This discount applies to ISDN, DSL, and T-1. CTF
is financed by a 0.13% surcharge placed on every telephone bill.
Initial partners that collaborated to create the CTN are:
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