UF diabetes telemedicine project wins national award

University of Florida health practitioners have won national recognition for a program that reduces hospital admissions and emergency room visits for children with diabetes.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has named the Florida Initiative in Telehealth and Education the first-place winner of its 2003 Vision Awards.

Launched in November 2001, the project helps bring specialized care to children with diabetes who live outside the Gainesville area by linking the patients and the community clinics they visit with UF health practitioners. The effort, which includes a virtual hospital unit for those whose diabetes is especially difficult to manage, aims to help patients learn about their disease through Web-based education and offers counseling via home videophones. The program also features an educational Web site (http://FITE.peds.ufl.edu) open to all children who attend UF diabetes clinics, their teachers and secondary caregivers.

UF pediatric endocrinologist Toree Malasanos, M.D., who directs the program, will accept $5,000 and a trophy on Sept. 11 at the organization’s annual joint conference with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, to be held in Phoenix.