Abstract
Another year has passed us by. The year 2010 is behind us and what a year it was! Time magazine named Mark Zuckerberg as its man of the year. Landmark healthcare legislation—The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—was passed in the United States and became law with the stroke of President Barrack Obama's pen, and 7 month's later, more Democrats were voted out of office than at any time in more than 60 years. Talk about change! Recently, more and more states are taking legal steps to minimize or eliminate elements of this legislation. The 112th U.S. Congress is poised to take up challenges to this bill as early as January 2011. We shall see what that means!
The past year also marked a number of terrible disasters—the earthquake in Haiti, the horrific oil platform fire that claimed 16 lives, and the subsequent largest oil spill in the U.S. history. What seemed like a tragedy in Chile turned out to be an amazing rescue operation of all 33 miners. While two wars continue to rage in Afghanistan and Iraq, a third is being averted as best it can at every turn. Technology continues to accelerate beyond belief. Commercial companies, such as SpaceX, are now capable of launching spacecraft that may soon carry paying customers into low Earth orbit. The Droid and the IPad are the rage, and of course, we all need to get on the 4G network. Wow! Need to take a break?
Each of these events has some element of telemedicine or e-health as a part of it. Consider the miners in Chile. NASA, a pioneer in the development of telemedicine since the late 1950s, was a key advisor to the Chilean Government on the development of the rescue system, healthcare programs, and monitoring of all 33 miners and rescuers, while the miners were in their subterranean outpost. The use of remote medicine, as aptly put by Fox talk show host, Sean Hannity, was a key component of the miners' survivability. This technology is now available from Zephyr Technology. Technology was also key in the immediate aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. From individuals texting their location to enable quicker rescue to the deployment of telemedicine through organizations such as the University of Miami, the technologies we utilize every day are also significant tools that can help us in a disaster.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and many states are finally coming around to the utility and efficacy of telemedicine. Consider comments made by CMS administrator, Don Berwick, M.D., at the American Telemedicine Association's midyear meeting in Baltimore and a more aggressive pursuit of reimbursement models for telemedicine, like those in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As Dale Alverson, M.D., the president of the American Telemedicine Association, has so eloquently stated, we have reached a perfect storm.
The technology that is available to us as consumers, whether for gaming (Wii and the Nintendo DS), finding the easiest way to a restaurant, or using our cell phones to view and update an Excel spreadsheet, has permanently changed medicine. The growing list of technology has influenced every aspect of our lives. Just recently there was a story on the CNN Web site about predictions made in 1931 about 2011. Eighty years ago, someone actually was talking about remote control and how in the future (2011) more things would be controlled remotely. If you make a prediction today, it most likely will not take 80 years to come to fruition.
Although the world will continue to face challenges regarding terrorism, global warming, natural resources, pandemics, and disasters of all making, a common thread is interwoven in them, that is, technology will continue to evolve and serve as a significant tool in ameliorating the impact to health. Perhaps, technology will lead to some kind of utopia. We will certainly look forward in anticipation of that phenomenon! In the meantime, we will continue to bring you the best in telemedicine research and experiences.
As we start a new year, we reflect on the quality of the material in Volume 16 of the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal. The manuscripts published in this journal have come from around the world. We received a record number of submissions in 2010, almost 230. They all go through an extensive peer-review process, and those that meet the criteria are what you see here in print. Our rejection rate continues to rise, which implies the quality of the journal is also rising.
As editors we rely on an active editorial board. You may observe new faces on the board. To those who serve and have served, we extend our warmest thanks and appreciation. They have helped shape this journal, and it serves you as a ready reference to what can be done in this field. A complete listing of those reviewers appears at the end of this issue.
We reflect on the year that has just passed and look forward to the year ahead as one filled with anticipation.