Telehealth/ Tele-education Project
Sandra Gabbard
University of Colorado Hospital

The Marion Downs Hearing Center (MDHC) has used tele-health/tele-education to support to professionals and children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families since 2007.  The Co-LEND project has identified currently practicing audiologists in rural areas of Colorado to participate as part time Post-doc trainees with the goal of expanding their expertise, experience and capacity to serve infants and children.  The Post-doc trainees participate in on-site training at the MDHC with faculty and off site mentorship via tele-health supervision.  The 4^th year AuD Pre-doc LEND fellow will also support this training by participating in the provision of services in the designated rural settings, also with tele-health supervision.  The implementation of the project began in the 4^th quarter of 2009 and will continue in the calendar year 2010. 

Beginning a Teleaudiology Program
Lenore Holte
Iowa's University Center for Excellence on Disabilities

Iowa is primarily a rural state, with some areas having little access to audiologists trained to diagnose children ages zero to three, particularly with auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. Families in some areas, such as northwest Iowa, have long distances to travel to obtain diagnostic ABR evaluations.  Costs of transportation for these families have become a barrier to timely entry into early intervention for Iowa children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and these costs have contributed to loss to follow-up.  The Iowa EHDI team is currently investigating the feasibility of providing ABR evaluations via telehealth:  Audiologists at the Center for Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa, who are experienced with pediatric ABR evaluations, are working to solve the technical challenges in performing these evaluations via distance, with an audiologist or a nurse located remotely with the baby.  Simultaneously, members of the Iowa EHDI team will work toward a satisfactory solution to reimbursement issues.  


Tele-Intervention for Children with Hearing Loss
Todd Houston
Utah State University

For the past 16 months, the Department of Communicative Disorders & Deaf Education - in collaboration with the National Center for Hearing Assessment & Management - has provided early intervention services to children with hearing loss under the age of three. The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of delivering early intervention services that focus on the acquisition of spoken language. Because of the service delivery methodology, a parent coaching model has been implemented. Results of this tele-intervention model appear to be positive as the children and parents have made significant progress in their respective skill development. 

Collaboration in Teleaudiology
Susan Chacon
Children's Medical Services New Mexico

New Mexico started a pilot teleaudiology project in Gallup NM this past summer. There is a lack of pediatric Audiology services in this region causing significant delays in evaluations.

The pilot project is a joint endeavor between the NM Department of Health, the University of New Mexico Audiology Department, Project ECHO, Gallup Indian Medical Center, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital and three early intervention programs serving children in the region. We are also working with Dr. John Ribera at Utah State University as well.

Wisconsin's EHDI Outreach and Coordination Effort
Megan O'Hern
State of Wisconsin: Department of Health Services

After receiving a supplemental grant award, Wisconsin Sound Beginnings has partnered with the Marshfield Clinic in efforts to reduce loss to follow up rates in Wisconsin. This effort will utilize telehealth equipment to provide hearing related care for homebirth populations and underserved remote areas.  Project members are in the process of performing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to determine the highest areas of need in the North/Northwest region of Wisconsin. This project will also support a .7 FTE EHDI Outreach Specialist to help facilitate the coordination of services, equipment and personnel.

North Carolina's Pilot Teleaudiology Project
Kathleen Watts
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention - NC Division of Public Health

The primary goal of the "Teleaudiology Project" is to provide infant audiological evaluations using telemedicine procedures and techniques for children residing in 35 eastern North Carolina counties where access to audiologists providing this service is very limited.  Approximately 53.4% of the infants from these counties who failed the newborn hearing screen had no diagnostic results by four months of age.  The measurable results will an increase in the availability of diagnostic services within two hours of place of residence and an increase in percentage of babies completing a diagnostic evaluation by 3 months of age. 

Working within an established Telemedicine Program at East Carolina University (ECU), the North Carolina EHDI Program will initially provide an audiology consultant who will work directly with the child and family.  An audiologist at ECU will be able to view the same diagnostic screen as the on-site audiologist and will direct the probe placement and procedures that are done, as well as determining the diagnosis. 

Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation/ Alaska
Beverly LeMaster
Alaska's Use of Telemedicine for Audiology/ENT patients

California Children's Medical Services
Hallie W. Morrow
Children's Medical Services Branch
California Department of Health Care Services

Overview of Utah State University Telehealth Projects
Vicki Simonsmeier
URLEND