The World Telehealth Initiative has also announced InTouch Health, the leading enterprise telehealth platform, and Direct Relief, the largest provider of charitable medicines in the United States, as partner organizations in the fight to bring care to communities across the globe. The organizations will work together to bring supplies, clinicians, technology, and better access to quality care to populations in dire need.

“By leveraging the innovative technology at InTouch Health, we plan to focus on saving and improving as many lives as possible through the Initiative’s work and those we partner with,” said Sharon Allen, Executive Director of the World Telehealth Initiative. “Through our past collaborations with Direct Relief and InTouch Health, we’ve already successfully begun three programs in Bangladesh, Malawi and Haiti. Uniting the World Telehealth Initiative with InTouch Health and Direct Relief demonstrates our global scalability and the operability of the technology to provide relief efforts and services to communities that would otherwise not have the same access to quality care.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1 billion people cannot obtain the health services they need because those services are either inaccessible, unavailable, unaffordable, or of poor quality. In addition, the world faces a shortfall of more than 7.2 million health workers. Although strategies to recruit, train, and develop the health workforce are improving, they are often not rapid enough to keep pace with population growth. This is compounded by difficulties in deploying health workers to rural, remote, and impoverished areas.

Given the company’s unique network of technology and clinical expertise, InTouch Health has an unprecedented ability to help the World Telehealth Initiative solve these critical healthcare problems. InTouch Health will donate virtual care devices and the InTouch Telehealth Network to enable virtual access to physician specialists. Additionally, all physicians who use InTouch Health to provide virtual care can volunteer their time or expertise to ensure the World Telehealth Initiative is a success.

“The World Telehealth Initiative is embarking on a core humanitarian cause to bring specialists to patients in areas of need throughout the world, and I’m thrilled InTouch Health and Direct Relief can help bring this to life,” said Yulun Wang, PhD, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Innovation Officer at InTouch Health and WTI Chairman. “Rather than providing episodic support relying on traditional modes of transportation, WTI will enable sustained support by leveraging telehealth to bring clinical expertise to the regions it assists.”

Since 2000, Direct Relief has provided more than $3.4 billion in essential healthcare and medical resources in over 85 countries (1). Some of the notable relief efforts include Hurricane Katrina (2005), the 2011 African Famine, West Africa Ebola Outbreak (2014), the Syrian Refugee Crisis (2011-17), Hurricane Harvey (2017) and many more. Direct Relief is also one of few nonprofits who have a perfect score on Charity Navigator, a top charity watchdog aimed at informing intelligent giving.

“We are privileged to have the World Telehealth Initiative and InTouch Health as our allies in the fight for better global healthcare,” said Andrew MacCalla, Director of International Programs and Emergency Response at Direct Relief and WTI board member. “Our goal with this partnership is to provide medical expertise to support people in need across all regions of the world. By combining forces, we can bring both the appropriate medical supplies and highly trained specialists to help more people who lack access to critical medical expertise.”

The World Telehealth Initiative is already seeing success with its telehealth program at a fistula care center in Malawi. The nonprofit, in partnership with InTouch Health and Direct Relief, has aided in the treatment of over 200 women with 150 diagnoses, 82 surgeries, and 250 lab tests, all which would have been left inadequately treated if it wasn’t for the implementation of a telehealth system. The practitioner at the fistula care center is able to communicate with experts from premier medical facilities in the United States to collaborate on diagnoses, surgical procedures, and further care plans. These women have already had their lives transformed with successful surgeries and care resulting from the program.

The post World Telehealth Initiative Formed to Bring World-Class Care to Communities Globally appeared first on Direct Relief.

The Direct Relief-chartered MD-11 cargo jet contained $21 million (wholesale) in donated medical resources from 44 companies (full list of companies below), including extensive quantities of intravenous solutions and prescription medications for acute conditions and chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension that can rapidly become medical emergencies if not managed. 

“This airlift will go a long way towards helping our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, and I am eternally grateful to Direct Relief and all of the organizations involved,” said President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, and founder and board chair of the Clinton Foundation. “Their efforts are a reminder that when so many people need our help, our common humanity matters even more.”

The Clinton Foundation has supported Direct Relief’s work for years, including the recovery efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. In the response to the Caribbean hurricanes this year, the Clinton Foundation has helped to coordinate and advise the team at Direct Relief.

Businesses Step Up to Fill Resource Gap

Direct Relief works with dozens of healthcare companies’ philanthropic arms on an ongoing basis to address public health needs and humanitarian crises across the globe and in all 50 U.S. states.  This private philanthropic support from businesses, as well as philanthropic support from individuals, foundations, and organizations has enabled a massively stepped-up response to assist in Puerto Rico, where health services have been severely constricted by the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

44 companies joined in filling specific requests that Direct Relief received from nonprofit health centers, government facilities, and private hospitals in Puerto Rico – all of which have been struggling to restore and expand services to care for the island’s more than 3 million residents.

“Direct Relief has been a wonderful partner for Eli Lilly and Company,” said Rob Smith, senior director of corporate responsibility and president of the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation.  “We have worked together to get insulin to those impacted by the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria.  Lilly could not ask for a more capable, responsive, and compassionate partner.  We are so grateful for all of the things Direct Relief is doing to help the great people of Puerto Rico recover from this terrible disaster.”

The medicines and supplies on the flight were donated by the following companies:

3M; Abbott; AbbVie; Alcon; Allergan plc; Amneal Pharmaceuticals; Apotex Inc.; AstraZeneca; Baxter International Inc.; Bayer; BD; Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Cera Products, Inc.; Cipla; Coola Suncare; CVS; DayOne Response; Ethicon; GSK; Henry Schein, Inc.; Integra LifeSciences; InTouch Health; Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson; Kaléo; LifeScan; Magno-Humphries Labs; Medtronic; Merck & Co., Inc.; Mylan; Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Noble Laboratories, Inc.; Novartis; Pfizer Inc.; Prestige Brands; Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Sanofi Foundation for NA; Sappo Hill Soapworks; Starbucks; Teva Pharmaceuticals, USA; Trividia Health; Vaseline; Wisconsin Pharmacal Company. 

Responding to an Unprecedented Hurricane Season

Today’s airlift follows several weeks of smaller-scale airlifts and hand-carried medications and emergency medical resources to dozens of Puerto Rico’s nonprofit health centers and medical teams organized by the Puerto Rico Department of Health.

Among the critical items has been 565 vials of blood-clotting factor for children with hemophilia, 15,600 vials of insulin, 35 pre-kitted emergency medical packs containing a broad range of Rx medications and supplies, as well as 1500 solar lights and over 4000 bottles of insect repellant to protect against Zika virus.

Direct Relief’s response in Puerto Rico has been concurrent with extensive responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma that preceded Maria.

Since Hurricane Harvey’s landfall on August 25, Direct Relief has sent 148 tons of medications, vaccines, and medical supplies valued at $64.7 million (wholesale) and including 19 million defined daily doses of Rx medications delivered via 560 emergency shipments to 143 partner organizations in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI and seven Caribbean countries.

In addition, Direct Relief has provided and committed financial support in the form of grants totaling over $2.7 million to 43 nonprofit health centers and clinics and their primary care associations in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

The post 76-Ton Airlift of Medicine and Medical Supplies Lands in Puerto Rico   appeared first on Direct Relief.

Hurdles for those needing care are exponentially higher in many countries around the world, where there may not even be enough doctors to treat the sheer volume of patients.

Filling that gap of expertise was at the heart of the 11th Telehealth Innovation Forum hosted by InTouch Health in Santa Barbara this week. The company’s signature robots and software allow patients and doctors to connect, no matter where each is in the world.

Direct Relief has partnered with InTouch on a pilot program to connect those in need with medical care, and the details of the program were announced Wednesday when Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe took the stage.

InTouch’s health systems have been sent to hospitals in Jordan, Malawi and Haiti to facilitate specialty care needed by patients.

If it makes sense in the United States to use telehealth to fill gaps in care, how much more does it make sense around the world, where doctors become much more scarce, Tighe asked the audience.

“This human resource gap is huge and getting worse,” he said.

Many healthcare professionals leave their home countries to seek employment, leaving a dearth of trained doctors and nurses to see patients.

In Jordan, the InTouch robot will connect dermatologists to patients in Zaatari camp, a large settlement that’s home to more than 80,000 people, most of whom are Syrian refugees. Dermatological services, like skin care screenings, can be overlooked when a specialist isn’t on site to see patients.

Many doctors take time out of their schedules to travel on medical missions to treat patients. While trips like this are impactful, they amount to “a really expensive house call,” Tighe said.

The program between InTouch and Direct Relief aims to create a consistent and more efficient connection between doctor and patient.

Another robot has gone to Bwaila Maternity Hospital in Malawi, where surgeons that can operate on patients with fistula are in short supply. Obstetric fistula is a birth injury that can be devastating to women, but a surgeon trained in repair techniques can be a game-changer in the equation.

But in a country with one physician for every 55,000 people – one of the worst ratios in the world – surgeons with these skills are in high demand.

That’s why an InTouch robot was sent, to connect doctors with patients.

Though there’s no commercial value to helping consumers that can’t pay for services, “there’s a high humanitarian reason to help,” Tighe said, adding that there’s value in not only sharing products and money with those in need but also expertise.

This connection of expertise was a common thread of other speakers at the forum.

Mohan Naidu, who works with Oppenheimer and Company, said that the gap between a telehealth visit between doctor and patient and an in-person visit is closing faster than ever before. He urged providers to “be ready to embrace change.”

Using the technology to treat people close to their medical homes in a lower cost settings is a huge benefit of telehealth that other speakers touched on.

Dr. Tanya Holt, who works in pediatric critical care at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatchewan, spoke about how telehealth allows young patients to receive care earlier, and closer to home, improving their chance of recovery.

Debra Philpot of TriStar Health also briefed the audience on how telehealth allows specialized care for conditions like stroke, among the company’s hospitals in Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

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