夏威夷将建立远程医学/远程病理学系统

一项新计划叫做“夏威夷农村远程医学和远程病理学远距离学习网络”，将会为夏威夷全州的农村以及服务水平低下的社区带来专业医疗服务以及远距离学习功能。该计划从美国农业部农村公用事业机构获得了500000美元的资助。

尤其值得指出的是，新系统将能够为医学病理学住院医生提供教育和培训；为保健工作人员、农村患者以及社区成员提供远程学习功能；为夏威夷农村社区提供专业医疗服务，特别是对慢性疾病。远程病理学和远程医学服务的主要提供者是Trestle公司。

夏威夷临床实验室医学主任Glenn Furuya医生解释说：“使用远距离远程病理学将会提升我们病理医师的生产力，几乎是迅即地共享信息。这彻底改变了我们对咨询和冰冻切片读片的第二意见，并且减少了诊断所需时间。”

在夏威夷各个社区被海洋所分割，远程病理学系统能够节约医生获得组织样本权威诊断所需的长达几天的时间。现在，病理切片通过快递员在各个岛屿之间来回传送，医生获得专家读片所需的时间长达3～5天之多。

Telemedicine/Telepathology System for Hawaii
 
A new project called the Rural Telemedicine and Telepathology Distance Learning network of Hawaii will bring specialized medical services and distance learning statewide to rural, underserved communities in Hawaii. The project is being funded by a U.S.$500,000 grant from the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC, USA).

Specifically, the new system will provide education and training to medical pathology residents; provide distance-learning services to health professionals, rural patients, and community members; and give rural Hawaiian communities access to specialized medical care, especially for chronic conditions. The primary provider of telepathology and telemedicine applications will be Trestle Holdings, Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA).

“Utilizing remote telepathology will increase our productivity by enabling our pathologists to share information almost instantly,” explained Dr. Glenn Furuya, medical director of Clinical Labs of Hawaii. “This revolutionizes our second-opinion consultations and frozen-section reviews, and reduces the time needed for diagnosis.”

In Hawaii, where communities are separated by the ocean, telepathology can shave days off the time required for a doctor to receive an expert diagnosis of a tissue sample. Currently, slides are shuttled back and forth among the islands by courier, and it can take three to five days for a doctor to get an expert “read” of a slide.