Ryan J. Spaulding, PhD

Professional Background

Ryan Spaulding is a long-time telehealth leader and researcher, having been the Director of the KU Center for Telemedicine andamp; Telehealth (KUCTT) at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) for 17 years and continues to be involved in telehealth projects and research as a Senior Researcher in the Center. He is also currently the Vice Chancellor of Community Engagement at KUMC and a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science. Previously Dr. Spaulding was also a faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management. From 2009 to 2019, he was the Communications Core Director for the Kansas INBRE initiative, a 10-university bioscience program funded by the NIH and administered all network site communication, videoconferencing and coordination. In his current role, Dr. Spaulding oversees multiple university departments that provide health care services and education to underserved urban and rural communities in Kansas. Dr. Spaulding also helps develop and implement the university’s rural and community health strategy and structure. He has authored several articles and book chapters on the use of health information technologies in the delivery of health care to underserved areas. Some of the topics of his research include innovation diffusion, implementation science, cost-benefit, feasibility, patient self-reported outcomes, and other constructs. Dr. Spaulding has been active on multiple federal NIH and HRSA grants for providing and researching various rural services and health technologies, and he is a long-time grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is a member of the National Rural Health Association and was a long-time member of the American Telemedicine Association.

• PhD, Univ. of Kansas

Research

Overview

My research and administrative interests focus on the use of health technologies to improve health care, particularly in rural or underserved areas. These technologies include telemedicine and telehealth applications, remote monitoring and mobile devices. Most recently the use of artificial intelligence (AI) powered technologies that increase patients’ self-management of their health care has become an academic interest to me. The use of ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) for improving rural continuing medical and nursing education is also an area of focus.