FCC Chairman to Visit Barton Health South Lake Tahoe
California Telehealth Network
For more information about CTN, please contact: Danielle Smith, 916-541-2882
Barton Health Member of the California Telehealth Network
SACRAMENTO, July 27, 2012 – Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski is scheduled to visit Barton Health, a California Telehealth Network (CTN) member site located in South Lake Tahoe, CA and one of the FCC funded Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP) sites.
"We're thrilled Chairman Genachowski is taking the time to visit one of our premier CTN sites. The FCC Rural Health Care Pilot Program has enabled CTN to use broadband technology to expand access to health care in rural and medically underserved areas of California. Barton is a prime example of how these resources allow local patients to be seen by the best clinical providers in the State without leaving the community,” said Eric Brown, CTN President and CEO.
CTN is the largest RHCPP participant in the nation with over 350 sites throughout California. Through the program, CTN provides Barton FCC subsidized high speed broadband which has enabled Barton to expand specialty care services through telehealth. Barton patients can be seen by the State’s best clinical specialists from distant locations using high definition cameras and monitors. Since the implementation of the program, Barton has averaged 75 telehealth patient visits a month. Barton’s clinical specialty services include: cardiology, endocrinology, infectious disease, dermatology, and adult psychiatry and neurology.
“CTN allows Barton to ensure its connections to external partners are fast, secure and of excellent quality. This is particularly important for specialists who are making a diagnosis and recommending treatment via telemedicine. You must be able to upload and download images and sound quickly which is sometimes not possible on the regular internet,” said Dr. Gregory Bergner, Barton Health. “CTN makes this possible.”
Barton Health serves a large percentage of medically underserved and uninsured patients. Clinical specialty services are available at Barton Memorial Hospital, Barton Community Clinic, Barton Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Urgent Care and Family Practice.
About the California Telehealth Network
California Telehealth Network’s mission is to promote advanced information technologies and services to improve access to high quality healthcare focusing on medically underserved and rural Californians. An independent non-profit 501c3, CTN was initially funded through the FCC's Rural Health Care Pilot Program which will provide CTN with up to $22.1 million, the largest single state award of its kind with $3.6 million in matching funds from the California Emerging Technology Fund. Additional funding has been provided by the California HealthCare Foundation, the California Teleconnect Fund, the National Coalition for Health Integration, United HealthCare and the University of California. For more information, visit (
www.caltelehealth.org).