by
Olga Deshchenko, DOTmed News Reporter | February 02, 2011
From the January/February 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“As a nonprofit organization, we recognize there are other organizations out there already providing some component of the solution we’re hoping to bring to sites,” says Walker. “What we wanted to do was make sure we weren’t reinventing the wheel.”
Just last month, WHITIA completed a digital X-ray installation at Salud y Bienestar Clinica Municipal in Guatemala City. Spanish X-ray systems manufacturer Sedecal provided the unit, while Merge Healthcare offered PACS and image management software. The project was funded by various Rotary clubs, including a club based in Guatemala and several in Chicago.
WHITIA has also collaborated with manufacturers on the development of Remi-d, a self-contained, digital chest X-ray system. Remi-d can be remotely operated – the technologist and the patient communicate through a live two-way video connection – and is equipped with alternative power sources to counter power outages. Sedecal developed the unit, while Merge created the interface. Remi-d is currently a prototype that WHITIA hopes to commercialize in the near future, says Walker.
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Projects in Cameroon and Haiti are currently in the queue for WHITIA. The nonprofit is interested in nurturing relationships between community health centers and clinics abroad and academic medical centers in the U.S. It can also use the help of X-ray technologists. “We’re always looking for volunteers who are interested in providing training and support for the sites that we work with,” says Walker. “Not only do we put in the equipment but we also arrange for training on that equipment.”
At home, WHITIA is looking to collaborate with facilities to help broaden access to imaging services in rural and urban regions nationwide. “We’re looking for hospital partners who want to help strengthen the community health network. Community health centers are the medical home for the low-income populations and with health care reform,” says Walker. “In order for community health centers to successfully embrace the expansion of what they’re already doing, they need resources and they need support.”
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