Thank You!

As you may already know, it is time for me to say goodbye to the UMTRC and the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA). As Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes, another opens”.

Over the last 13 years, it has been my pleasure to serve the IRHA in a variety of positions. Being the program director of the UMTRC for the past 10 years has challenged me in so many ways. If you’ve ever heard me speak about the volume of technical assistance received by the UMTRC since its inception in 2010. At first, the UMTRC was like a little rowboat in the middle of Lake Michigan; we were like a cheerleader for telehealth, and not many took notice of us. And then came the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. So now, our little rowboat is like a cruise ship, and there aren’t enough berths for everyone who wants to join us!

I often get asked, “What does the future of telehealth look like?” While I don’t have a crystal ball, we here at the UMTRC do not see telehealth going away. The pandemic has moved telehealth policy forward at least 20 years overnight. We expect telehealth and remote patient monitoring to continue to be more integrated into the overall delivery of healthcare. As for the future of the UMTRC, IRHA named a new program director Cameron Hilt during the month of October. You can find more information on Cameron under the blog post titled "New UMTRC Program Director".