一項(xiàng)新計(jì)劃叫做“夏威夷農(nóng)村遠(yuǎn)程醫(yī)學(xué)和遠(yuǎn)程病理學(xué)遠(yuǎn)距離學(xué)習(xí)網(wǎng)絡(luò)”，將會(huì)為夏威夷全州的農(nóng)村以及服務(wù)水平低下的社區(qū)帶來(lái)專業(yè)醫(yī)療服務(wù)以及遠(yuǎn)距離學(xué)習(xí)功能。該計(jì)劃從美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部農(nóng)村公用事業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)獲得了500000美元的資助。

尤其值得指出的是，新系統(tǒng)將能夠?yàn)獒t(yī)學(xué)病理學(xué)住院醫(yī)生提供教育和培訓(xùn)；為保健工作人員、農(nóng)村患者以及社區(qū)成員提供遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)功能；為夏威夷農(nóng)村社區(qū)提供專業(yè)醫(yī)療服務(wù)，特別是對(duì)慢性疾病。遠(yuǎn)程病理學(xué)和遠(yuǎn)程醫(yī)學(xué)服務(wù)的主要提供者是Trestle公司。

夏威夷臨床實(shí)驗(yàn)室醫(yī)學(xué)主任Glenn Furuya醫(yī)生解釋說(shuō)：“使用遠(yuǎn)距離遠(yuǎn)程病理學(xué)將會(huì)提升我們病理醫(yī)師的生產(chǎn)力，幾乎是迅即地共享信息。這徹底改變了我們對(duì)咨詢和冰凍切片讀片的第二意見(jiàn)，并且減少了診斷所需時(shí)間。”

在夏威夷各個(gè)社區(qū)被海洋所分割，遠(yuǎn)程病理學(xué)系統(tǒng)能夠節(jié)約醫(yī)生獲得組織樣本權(quán)威診斷所需的長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾天的時(shí)間。現(xiàn)在，病理切片通過(guò)快遞員在各個(gè)島嶼之間來(lái)回傳送，醫(yī)生獲得專家讀片所需的時(shí)間長(zhǎng)達(dá)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.