story136

A Question for Minister of Health Pat Atkinson:
How Much Money is Telehealth Costing?

By Mario deSantis, March 16, 2000

With news releases dated March 3, 2000, Pat Atkinson approved the April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000 budgets for some 21 health districts(1). I became alarmed by the fact these budgets were approved in the same month the related fiscal year was ending. Therefore, I became curious to find out how long it took for the previous year budgets to be approved. I checked the governmental web site for news releases and for the year 1999 and 1998 I found no mentioning of any approval of any budget for any districts. It is obvious that the processes to approve the districts' budgets have been changing in the last few years. As I was searching through the governmental web site, I came across an interesting news release dated December 4, 1998 mentioning the funding of $1.5 million for the second phase of Northern Telehealth Pilot Project(2). If $1.5 million were mentioned for the second phase of this pilot project I should suspect that some more millions of dollars could have been allocated to the first phase of this pilot project. This pilot project was intended to link patients and care providers at eight sites in the Northwest, Keewatin Yathe Mamawetan, Churchill River, Battlefords, Prince Albert and Saskatoon health districts.

In announcing the second phase of this project, Minister of Health Pat Atkinson said "This project will improve health services for patients and health providers in rural and northern Saskatchewan. People from the north will be able to visit a facility in La Ronge and receive services as if they had visited a specialist's office in centres such as Prince Albert or Saskatoon." Pat Atkinson also stated that "Telehealth has the potential to significantly improve the way we deliver health services now and into the next century." She concluded the news release stating that the Saskatchewan Health Information Network (SHIN) will provide assistance on the development of this pilot project.

Now, we already know that SHIN diverted money from its mandate to assist the districts in the Y2K nightmare(3), and we also know that some $40 million have been flushed down the toilette(4). Therefore, at this point of writing we can realize how the assisting crappy hand of SHIN has turned Telehealth to another technological flushing of the toilette, just like the previous secretive pilot project Stargarden healthcare payroll(5). Let us see what kind of documentation we have to support our claim that Telehealth is another crap assembled by our Big Brains(6) headed by Brian Rourke(7), the Supreme Asset of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO).

The news release dated December 4, 1998 states that the Telehealth system will be fully operational in June 1999. The districts' budgets 1999-2000 approved on March 3, 2000 include the Mamawetan and the Northwest districts. In approving the Mamawetan's budget, Pat Atkinson says "I am particularly pleased to see the district continuing to advance the Telehealth project." The approval of the budget for the Northwest district includes the statement by Board Chair Dale Green "The Telehealth Project has helped district residents get faster access to specialty services without having to leave the district."

I find these two references to Telehealth contradictory, the first reference implies that the project is not completed, the second reference implies that the project is completed. This diverse double-talking is a true mark of political excellency of our astute politicians, they don't want to be caught lying, so one politician says something, the other says another thing, and when they are put into a corner they eventually flip-flop(8). Flip-flopping is the politically correct term for what a decent person knows as straight lying.

In mid May 1999, Associate Health Minister Judy Junor, in reviewing the impending implementation of the Telehealth system linking Nipawin with Cumberland House stated "It's going to be a significant change in how health services are delivered in remote areas, and in particular in the north(9)." Nipawin and Cumberland House are not part of the districts included in the Northern Telehealth Pilot Project and therefore their Telehealth project is another pilot project.

Believe it or not, we have definitely two independent pilot projects. This is another invention of our bureaucrats, for them the term pilot doesn't mean economically feasible, for them pilot means to give governmental money to their friends(10) and this is why we have two pilot projects to accomplish the same purpose: flush more money into the toilette. Anyhow, the Telehealth system linking Nipawin to Cumberland House is supposed to be operational to day(11), March 15, 2000, but referring to the past experiences of our Big Brains I doubt about it.

It is a fact that Telehealth not only is an obsolete technology, but it is costing the province millions of dollars. Further, rural Saskatchewan has the know-how to implement superior Internet compatible technologies linking remote sites(12) and it is therefore penalized, first because money is going down the toilette, second because that money is not circulated in rural Saskatchewan but in urban centre or in the US, third because this wasting of money deprives rural Saskatchewan for the opportunity to diversify its economy.

Honourable Pat Atkinson, I have this question for you: how much money has been spent so far for Telehealth, and how much more money do you intend to flush into the toilette?

Endnotes

Quote by Donella Meadows "challenging a paradigm is not a part-time job. It is not sufficient to make your point once and then blame the world for not getting it. The world has a vested interest in, a commitment to, not getting it. The point has to be made patiently and repeatedly, day after day after day" ftp://sysdyn.mit.edu/ftp/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4143-1.pdf http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/default.htm

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News

1. Government News Release, Health - 86, March 3, 2000 http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/2000/03/

2. HEALTH MINISTER ANNOUNCES NEXT PHASE OF TELEHEALTH PILOT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, Government News Release, Health 98 - 896, Dec 04, 1998 http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/1998Dec/896.98120401.html

3. Saskatchewan Health Information Network-SHIN: Ignoring its mandate and diverting money for the Y2K Nightmare, by Mario deSantis, November 3, 1999

4. What Happened to the Saskatchewan Health Information Network (SHIN)? By Mario deSantis, June 10, 1999

5. Letter dated April 28, 1997 from Mario deSantis directed to all Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of Saskatchewan District Health Boards. Re: Computerization of Health Care Payroll and Economic Policies. http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-letterToChairsCEOs-Apr28-97.htm

6. Healthcare Payroll and SAHO's Big Brains, by Mario deSantis, November 20, 1999

7. Brian Rourke wants more healthcare money: 40% of public expenditures are not enough, by Mario deSantis, November 14, 1999

8. Premier Roy Romanow flip-flops on Farm Aid and confirms his hypocrisy, by Mario deSantis, February 28, 2000

9. Technological changes in Saskatchewan health care: an abysmal disaster, by Mario deSantis, May 27, 1999

10. Governments must stop to serve themselves and their friends, by Mario deSantis, February 12, 2000

11. Technology provides health link to Cumberland House, CBC Saskatchewan http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 8 2000 4:37 PM

12. Worldwide Developer's Conference Begins Today, FTLComm - San Jose - May 10, 1999 by: Timothy W. Shire "...Through the wonders of QuickTime 4.0 I was able to attend the Keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose California and listen as interim CEO Steve Jobs and head of software development Avie Trevanian outline Apple's present strategy...". Published in the North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/computer_today/worldwidedev/worldwidedev.html