SACRAMENTO — Peter Yellowlees, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the UC Davis School of Medicine and one of the world's leading experts on the use of telemedicine and psychiatry, has been appointed to the board of directors of Cal eConnect, a new nonprofit entity established by the state of California to provide leadership and direction for the development of a statewide healthcare information exchange process.

Yellowlees is an expert in all aspects of health informatics, which includes the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of health information in medicine, as well as virtual reality. He has advocated the use of telemedicine in psychiatry since the early 1990s, when he became one of the first psychiatrists to treat patients using the then-emerging technology.

Yellowlees is appointed as a health informatics expert to an initial two-year term on the 22-member board, which includes members representing many of the key participants in health information exchange in California.

"I am delighted to be appointed to the board of Cal eConnect," Yellowlees said. "The influx of federal funding for health information exchange from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has created a great opportunity to really change the way health care is delivered across the state. I am looking forward to being involved in such an important process."

Announced in March by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Secretary of Health and Human Services Kim Belshe, Cal eConnect is designed to ensure health care in California is built on a solid foundation of health information and data exchange to provide safe and secure patient and provider access, and dramatically improve the quality of care for all Californians.

Funding for the program was secured through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For further information, visit www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/medschool.