The ISfTeH is honoured to present its new President: Dr. Michele Y. Griffith. Dr. Griffith takes over the helm from Dr. Andy Fischer who had announced his retirement from his position as ISfTeH President earlier last year, after serving as President since 2012.
A call for candidates was issued among the ISfTeH Board of Directors and Michele Griffith was elected unanimously as the new President of the ISfTeH.
We thank Andy Fischer for his many years of leadership, engagement and support, and we look forward to continue working with him, as he continues to be an active ISfTeH member through his company MEDGATE and through the Swiss Association for Telemedicine & eHealth.
We welcome Michele Griffith as new President and look forward to expanding and developing the ISfTeH global network under her leadership.
Dr. Griffith would like to share her Presidency Vision Statement with all members:
It was October 2013, and I had been a member of the ISfTeH for a little over a year. I arrived in Takamatsu, Japan for the 18th ISfTeH International Conference. Like many attendees, I arrived with the aim of networking and gaining access to experts in the field of telemedicine to nourish my implementation efforts in the U.S. Viewed as a stand-alone project rather than an integral part of the healthcare system, and far from widespread adoption, telehealth utilization was in the single digits. Fast forward to pandemic times and, out of necessity, the future is here; awareness and adoption of telemedicine are global.
The ISfTeH has been in the vanguard of digital health fulfilling its mission to ”facilitate the international dissemination of knowledge and experience in Telemedicine and eHealth and provide access to recognized experts in the field worldwide.” This role is more important than ever as all three key stakeholders-clients, providers and stewards – (governments, organizations, healthcare systems, public health entities, non-profits, community centers and local healthcare providers) seek guidance and resources to successfully integrate telehealth into the healthcare ecosystem. The ISfTeH is in a prime position to use its most powerful resource to fulfill this role: its members and, more importantly, the engagement of its members.
It is sincerely an honor to serve as your newly elected president of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth. I am thankful for the exemplary leadership of my predecessor, Dr. Andy Fisher, and the steadfast dedication and hard work of the Board of Directors. The membership of this great organization, representing over 100 countries, is the heart. The strength of the ISfTeH lies in the heartbeat of its members. The more engaged we are, the more our knowledge and resources can serve to perfuse and proliferate improved health outcomes internationally through the use of telemedicine and digital health.
My vision for this presidency is to harness the resources of the Society to provide guidance for the successful integration of Telehealth, and digital health in general, into the healthcare ecosystem in countries around the world.
We are taking the first steps in a journey to the day when the term digital health is no longer part of our lexicon, because health has gone digital. We are a long way away. And there is a saying ”if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” Join me on this journey. I have an open-door policy and look forward to engaging with you. Feel free to email me: info@isfteh.org.
Yours in service,
Michele Y. Griffith, MD
President
International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH)
”Your global partner in digital health”
