Southern Arizona Telemedicine and Telepresence (SATT) Program

The Southern Arizona Telemedicine and Telepresence (SATT) Program, directed by Dr. Rifat Latifi, is a regional inter-hospital link between the UMC and 5 rural hospitals in Southern Arizona using telemedicine systems. The SATT program facilitates the virtual presence of an experienced trauma surgeon using high quality live audio and video which is streamed from a dedicated telemedicine network. Advances in technology including telemedicine and telepresence applications for trauma, emergency management, and intensive critical care may be the solution to reducing and/or eliminating the gap in trauma care between rural and urban areas.

The SATT Program was made possible by a generous grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.

Benefits of the SATT Program

• Immediate access to Trauma/Critical Care specialists at UMC 24 hours/day, seven days/week.
• Greater ability to quickly recognize patients who require a higher level of care.
• Assisting the medical staff at the referral facility in managing the patient as to prevent management errors.
• Post-discharge follow up can be done within the community through telemedicine evaluation.

What is Telemedicine and Telepresence?

Telemedicine may be defined as the use of telecommunications and information technology to support the delivery of health care at a distance. Telepresence, on the other hand, is being present at distance during real time live experience. Telepresence has evolved as an important subset of telemedicine, yet has remained an underutilized technique when all its potential is considered. As applied to trauma and surgery, telepresence make it possible for an experienced trauma surgeon or other specialist to assist or direct another less experienced physician and/or surgeon who is operating or attending a patient at a distance. In order for true telepresence to be perceived by all participants, and thus have successful telepresence, one should have technology that creates an environment that mimics flawless motion, audio and video transmission.

Hospitals in the SATT network

• Benson Hospital - Benson, AZ
• Copper Queen Hospital - Bisbee, AZ
• Southeast Medical Center - Douglas, AZ
• Sierra Vista Regional Health Center - Sierra Vista, AZ
• Holy Cross Hospital - Nogales, AZ