This view will change over time as it becomes more common. Campus-wide and Systemwide Intranet would need appropriate firewall protection and other security features. Specific opportunities or IT initiatives that are being work on or may be considered at UTMB at Galveston to address these objectives. Other organizational or policy issues that may need to be addressed to make IT initiatives successful. Participants would like to see the Education and Research objective, Enable Students to Enter the Workforce and Succeed, expanded to include continuing education of rural physicians through technology in order to improve UTMB's delivery of care and to help market the UTMB health care network.
Geographic proximity is no longer a competitive advantage in the managed care market.
If all of the 250,000 potential patients in Galveston county came to UTMB, it would not be enough to support the UTMB system. Telecommuting with telemedicine capabilities can enable us to reach patient populations around the world. Faculty need basic training and support on automated courseware development. This will increase participation and should ultimately allow for more cost effectively designed electronically enabled courses. Once this becomes the norm, this issue may go away.