Background

In December 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was executed between the U.S. Army's Pacific Regional Medical Command, Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) and the Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System, Honolulu (VAPIHCS Honolulu) to establish the Pacific Telehealth & Technology Hui (the Hui). Forged with the support and encouragement of Daniel K. Inouye, the DoD/VA joint venture set out to leverage the mutual strengths and resources of the two healthcare institutions to improve the quality, accessibility, patient satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness of healthcare services to beneficiaries through the use of emerging and existing telehealth technologies.

The Hui's role in advancing healthcare technology and telemedicine has evolved from managing programs initiated a decade ago under the DoD-funded Pacific Regional Program Office, Akamai, Pacific e-Health Innovation Center, and the VAPIHCS Honolulu to facilitating innovative partnerships with public and private organizations. Many of the technologies developed under these programs have been spun off, sustained or incorporated into standard treatment practices at public or private community-based clinics or healthcare organizations in the Pacific or on the U.S. Mainland. From its success in executing these endeavors, the Hui has gained recognition as a leader in telehealth and healthcare technology research and development.

The growth of information and communications technologies during the past decade has broadened the Hui's outreach globally in establishing interdisciplinary collaborations for government-funded research projects with universities and industry. As a collaborator and facilitator of research partnerships, the Hui has assumed new leadership as a subsidiary of Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) under the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

In the Hawaii tradition of 'hui' or 'coming together', the Hui continues to create new synergies aimed at determining healthcare needs and developing technological solutions to meet those needs. The Hui's expanded role as a TATRC subsidiary will enhance its economic benefit to the Hawaii community and propel its outreach nationally and globally to advance the development of healthcare technologies.

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