Abstract
Telemedicine and e-Health Best Paper Award for 2014
As editors of the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal, we are proud to recognize Dr. Rashid L. Bashshur for his accomplishments and contributions to the field of telemedicine for over five decades. In collaboration with our editorial board and for the gratuity of Liebert Publishing, Dr. Bashshur's article, entitled “The Empirical Foundations of Telemedicine Interventions for Chronic Disease Management,” was recognized as the Best Paper for 2014. The citation is
Bashshur RL, Shannon GW, Smith BR—Contributing Authors: Alverson D, Antoniotti N, Barsan W, Bashshur N, Brown EM, Coye MJ, Doarn CR, Ferguson S, Grigsby J, Krupinski EA, Kvedar JC, Linkous J, Merrell RC, Nesbitt T, Poropatich R, Rheuban K, Sanders J, Watson A, Weinstein RS, Yellowlees P. The empirical foundations of telemedicine interventions for chronic disease management. Telemed J E Health 2014;20:769–800.
Life Time Achievement Award
In addition to this accolade, Dr. Bashshur was recognized by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), during its annual meeting in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Bashshur received the prestigious Life Time Distinguished Service Award, which was created this year to honor his contributions to the development of telemedicine nationally and internationally. During the awards ceremony, Dr. Ronald Weinstein, Dr. Jay Sanders, and Ms. Noura Bashshur paid tribute to Dr. Bashshur. After receiving the Award, Dr. Bashshur made these remarks:
My dear friends and colleagues,
Thank you most kindly. This award means a great deal to me. Perhaps more than anything else, it is a vindication that my professional life was not a waste. It is all the more special to have my daughter, here at the podium, to share this happy occasion with me.
ATA is now 20 years old and growing by leaps. Before ATA, I had been at it for another 20 years. Life was lonely in the early 1970s. Very few people saw the merit and potential for discovery, creativity, and achievement in this domain. Of the very few who got involved in telemedicine in those days and are still alive, I can see Jay and me. Jay told me once, you love to write and I love to talk. Incidentally, I served on the site visit team from the National Science Foundation that evaluated Jay's proposal for funding in 1973. We approved his application for research.
However, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that we stand on the shoulders of those whose work preceded ours. Early pioneers like Wilhem Einthoven, the duo of Gershon and Cohen, Albert Jutras, Ken Bird, Cecil Wittson, Max House, Maxine Rockoff, Michael DeBakey, and others.
I never thought I would live long enough to witness telemedicine achieve this level of progress and recognition as a vital modality of healthcare delivery in this country and worldwide. Originally the notion was simple: when people cannot get to a source of care, care can be delivered to them via telecommunications. The field is now much more complex in terms of applications, organization, management, health resources, and technology, and it is linked to all efforts, initiatives, and policies to improve access to care, enhance quality, and contain cost.
If I may reflect on this precious occasion on the driving force behind my lifetime of work in healthcare and telemedicine, I can describe it in one word—equity:
Equity of access to care regardless of distance and time barriers…
Equity in the distribution of quality in healthcare… and
Equity in the incidence of the cost of care, including that borne by the consumer.
Thank you very much!