Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | Maj. Gen. Benny Paulino, the adjutant general of the Guam National Guard, Guam Gov....... read more read more
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TRIPLER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Hawaii – Service members and civilians from Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) conducted a Video-Teleconference (VTC) demo with the Guam Army National Guard, testing the capability of providing soldiers Tele-Behavioral Health (TBH) care May 13.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Dennis Doyle, Pacific Regional Medical Command and TAMC commanding general, Maj. Gen. Benny Paulino, the adjutant general of the Guam National Guard, and Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo participated in the demonstration.
The purpose of the demo was to test the effectiveness of using a VTC system to administer Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant TBH support to Guam Army National Guardsmen returning from deployments.
Suzie Martin, Pacific Regional Medical Command (PRMC) Tele-Health director, said that Air Force and Navy medical treatment facilities on Guam can’t provide all fitness for duty medical requirements Soldiers there need.
“There aren’t any Army medical treatment facilities out there,” Martin said. “They don’t always have the access to care there the Soldiers might need in order to get their evaluations done or to engage in treatment.”
Using a VTC system allows technicians at TAMC the capability to offer Soldiers in Guam the care they need from a distance.
“What we’re trying to do is bridge the gap in services they are currently experiencing and provide them with care so they don’t have to travel,” Martin said. “[The VTC system] will give us an ability to let the Soldiers return home sooner. They can be with their family members instead of being here assigned to a unit by themselves and without that family support.”
Lt. Shaerry Gracey, PRMC clinical psychologist and clinical director of TBH and surge support, identified VTC system advantages.
“I like the ability to provide ongoing treatment as well as one-time evaluations, and be able to speak with the command about the needs and concerns of the Soldiers regardless of where they're located,” Gracey said. “This offers [Soldiers] the opportunity to return home at a quicker pace but still get TBH quality care to ensure they’re going to be successful when they return home.”
Janet Wood, PRMC behavioral health psychology technician, originally questioned how effective a VTC system would be, but soon understood its benefits.
“Oddly enough, I kept thinking, ‘How do you provide behavioral health over a VTC?’” Wood said. “I didn’t really buy into it myself until I got to see what happens and the relationships that are built. One of the benefits is that, regardless of the miles we are going across, we’re still going to be able to reach out to a Soldier and talk to them and work with them. They can benefit from that treatment from thousands of miles away.”
The VTC system is slated to be fully operational and available for Soldiers in Guam in June 2014.
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.14.2014 20:26 |
| Story ID: | 129798 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 361 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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