ABCNews’ ‘Good Morning America’ Features Telemedicine Efforts in Alaska

As part of the series, "50 States, One Nation, One Year," ABCNews' "Good Morning America" on June 27 reported on the use of telemedicine to provide residents of Alaska's Aleutian Peninsula, "one of the most inaccessible places" in North America, with access to physicians. Kings Cove, Alaska, residents must travel hours -- and "sometimes days" -- by air to reach the nearest hospital. Eastern Aleutian Tribes Director Chris Devlin said that flying within Alaska to see a physician can be "like flying from Chicago to Washington" and can cost up to $1,000 per trip. A pilot program in Kings Cove now links 256 "remote" villages with physicians in other parts of Alaska. Health aides, who have two years of first aid training and serve as the only medical personnel in most rural communities, can share and discuss pictures of injuries, audio scopes and EKGs with physicians in other areas of the state to make diagnoses. Dr. Jennifer Edwards at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage said, "We can actually make a very good diagnosis based on a picture. And if we don't know the answer, we can forward them on to a specialist." ABCNews reports that a telemedicine diagnosis can determine whether a flight to a hospital would be unnecessary or life-saving. Lorraine Johnson, a native Alaskan healer who still uses "traditional" cures, said, "I think it's wonderful to have something besides our old ways of handling things. Without it, I'm sure a lot of the natives would have died" ("Good Morning America," ABCNews, 6/27). A transcript of the segment is available online.