NMTHA About Us Page

The New Mexico Telehealth and HIT Commission will meet on June 16.

The Alliance is working with several other organizations in the state to compile a statewide inventory of telehealth programs, sites, and infrastructure.

About Us

What is the New Mexico Telehealth Alliance?

The NM Telehealth Alliance is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting telehealth solutions to deliver quality healthcare throughout the state. The Alliance is a network of members representing a broad spectrum of public and private healthcare organizations. We provide technical and program support to our members and enable them to effectively share resources. Our board members, officers, and executive director are all volunteers.

Why is an Alliance Needed?

Federal, state, and private funds are spent on telehealth programs with little or no attention to coordination with other programs, efficient reuse of existing resources, and delivering the best level of cost-effective service. Existing and proposed programs create a patchwork of telehealth solutions with overlaps, gaps, and little long-term accountability. No entity coordinates telehealth statewide and ensures that telehealth programs and dollars generate the best possible health benefits for New Mexicans. How can New Mexico ensure that dollars spent on telehealth programs are applied effectively and efficiently?

New Mexico needs an organization to provide the following telehealth-related services:

Clinical Coordination: Identifying healthcare delivery needs, finding organizations to deliver healthcare services, monitoring the delivery, and ensuring improved health outcomes.
Technical Coordination: Identifying the proper technical solution for healthcare service delivery including equipment evaluation, telecommunications connectivity, reuse of existing resources, scheduling, network management, support, and maintenance.
Health Information Technology: Managing information exchange among healthcare providers and ensuring compliance with federal, state, and other standards.
Administrative Services: Reimbursement issues, administrative policy and procedures, legislative issues, and general management of the telehealth process.

Every dollar spent on coordination ensures that dollars spent on specific telehealth programs generate the greatest improvement in health across all programs and regions of the state.

What is the Alliance Doing Now?

We were incorporated on July 30, 2007. We received $25,000 in startup funding from the Con Alma Health Foundation. In early 2008 we will bid on a $20,000 state contract to provide telehealth coordination services. These funds will be used for organizational startup, coordination activities, and to acquire and deploy a video conferencing scheduling system. The scheduling system will enhance resource sharing among telehealth programs delivering services to dozens of healthcare facilities and school-based clinic across the state. We are assisting partner organizations to apply for private funding for telehealth projects. We will continue these efforts and broaden our search for funding to other private, state, and federal sources.

This page was last updated on 01/03/08
Address comments or queries about this web site to burd@unm.edu.