Welcome & Letter of Intent

Sponsored & hosted by the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiél Command's (USAMRMC) Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) held in conjunction with The Annual American Telemedicine Association Fall Forum

Welcome to the TATRC ATA 20ll Mid-Year workshop on "Challenges, Solutions and Best Practices in Telemental Health Service Delivery Across the Pacific Rim"

The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) in conjunction with the American Telemedicine Associations (ATA) Annual Mid-Year Meeting will conduct a one day workshop on how maturing and emerging applications in the field of telemental health can be expanded to enhance access to behavioral health services in the Pacific Rim. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts in the field of telemental health from the military, federal agencies, academia and regional healthcare organizations serving populations in the Pacific Rim. The workshop will review the technologies to better understand their current and potential applications to regional challenges including DOD and other federal organizations.

The meeting has been organized into four sessions around the following topic areas: 1) Remote screening and assessment (including integration with HIT/EMR); 2) Post Deployment Adjustment Mental Health Treatment (eg. TBI, PTSD, Depression, Addiction); 3) Suicide Prevention and Management; and 4) Delivery of training, education and mental health work force development. Each session is organized in the same format with four panelists who are subject matter experts to provide perspective from Alaska, the Pacific Islands, and the Department of Defense in the topic area, with a fourth subject matter expert brining a global view of the status of the field. After brief presentations from each of the subject matter experts, a panel facilitator will guide an interactive conversation between the panelists and the audience with the goal of discussing challenges, gaps and collaborative opportunities in the area.

It is hoped that these discussions focusing on programmatic and organizational activities to identify shared experiences and gaps will have the potential to enhance existing or create new opportunities for collaborations in the delivery of telemental health services to the populations of the Pacific Rim.

Welcome to the Summit! We look forward to spending time with you discussing our challenges, finding potential solutions and appreciate your interest and participation.

Sincerely,

The Conference Committee