The day after we published our June 7 cover story involving
telemedicine for mental health clinical research trials, the New York
Times affirmed the value of telepsychiatry. Our story, June 7, was on
MedAvante, which assesses patients in mental health trials by setting
up teleconferencing equipment at remote facilities and hiring
psychiatrists to do interviews from a central location.
The Times story was on Dr. Sara Gibson, who talks to patients at a
remote location in Arizona. “Psychiatry, especially in rural swaths of
the nation that also often have deep social problems like poverty and
drug abuse, is emerging as one of the most promising expressions of
telemedicine. At least 18 states now pay for some telemedicine care
under their Medicaid programs, and at least eight specifically include
psychiatry,” wrote Kirk Johnson in the page one feature.
Gibson is quoted as saying that some of her patients with trauma, and
those who have been abused, are “actually more comfortable” talking to
her remote image. “I’m less intimidating at a distance.”
That issue of the Times also covered Kevin Chung, who has two
companies on Washington Road – AI Technologies, which makes adhesives,
epoxies, and thermal materials, and Avante Technology, which has
Chung’s latest brainstorm, an electronic voting machine that provides
a printed record (October 27, 2004).
The Times quotes Chung as saying that he has invested $5 million to $6
million in his invention. And though Avante has won a $1.8 million
contract with Warren County – and is competing to get a contract with
New York – the company will be showing red ink for a long time.
“Would I do it again, as an individual?” Chung was quoted as saying.
“No. But we actually can now see the crack in the clouds, not only
domestically but internationally as well. And we have a trump card –
a patent.”
But Michael I. Shamos, Princeton ’68 and a professor of computer
science at Carnegie Mellon, offered a discouraging opinion: “The only
realistic way for a new company to succeed is to sell to a big company
that has had experience selling into that community. It’s not like
consumer products.”
Summer Fiction
The U.S. 1 Summer Fiction issue will not be published until Wednesday,
July 26, But the deadline looms. Submit previously unpublished work in
any of these categories: short story, humor, or poetry. Submissions
should not exceed 2,000 words. (If longer, please indicate sections
that may be deleted for space requirements).
All entries must be received no later than Wednesday, June 21, by mail
to U.S. 1 Newspaper, 12 Roszel Road, Suite C-205, Princeton 08540; by
fax to 609-452-0033, or as an E-mail message to
fiction@princetoninfo.com (MS Word OK). Poetry, if E-mailed, should be
accompanied by a hard copy. Authors retain all rights.
Preference will be given to central New Jersey writers whose work
addresses a theme or place relevant to the greater Princeton business
community. So be sure to include a brief biographical summary
(including where you work) along with your name, address, and daytime
phone number.
