Category Archives: Telemedicine Video Conferencing
2012
Telepresence Robots Expand Post-Surgical Care Into The Home
Medical telepresence continues to change how patients access health care across the United States. One of the more cutting edge developments in medical video communications has to do with post-operative care. Specifically, Children’s Hospital Boston is now sending telepresence robots home with patients in order to provide follow-up treatment after serious surgical procedures.
The robots, manufactured by a company called Vgo Communications, are designed to provide a direct link between practitioners at Children’s Hospital Boston and recuperating patients – one that eliminates the need for regular return visits to the facility.
As the video above reveals, the robots feature a five-inch telepresence display where a ‘face’ would normally be found, and this interface works in combination with a high definition camera, microphone, and speaker system in order to help doctors and nurses keep in touch with patients at home. This includes not just direct conversations in order to report on recovery, symptoms, and pain, but also the ability to provide high resolution images of surgical wounds in order to track healing and spot any potential problems as early as possible. The robot is not an autonomous device, but one which is remotely controlled by hospital or clinic staff over the same cellular connection that it uses for communications purposes.
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2011
Cisco TelePresence Offers Medical Personnel A New Emergency Management Tool
Telepresence technology is becoming a more common feature of medical practices around the world, but it can also serve an important health care role outside of the traditional hospital setting. In fact, the benefits of video conferencing technology are beginning to work their way into the emergency recovery plans of medical administrators forced to manage the staggering needs of disasters whose scope sometimes overwhelms the capacity of standard medical deployment.
The recent flooding that has threatened over one hundred thousand Thai citizens offers a glimpse into how video conferencing can help the medical establishment provide a higher level of care to disaster victims. In a flood situation, the rising waters pose more than just a danger to residents who are unable to evacuate in time. Rivers that break their banks also cut off access to food, drinkable water, health care, and other important resources. The disruption in travel and distribution channels can effectively isolate populations from the services and supplies that they need, including emergency medics and rescue personnel.
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2011
Telepresence Technology Helps Rural Communities Retain Skilled Workers
It used to be that part of small town life meant watching some of the best and brightest members of your community leave for better employment and education opportunities in more populous cities. But now, thanks to the increased adoption of video conferencing technology, this particular trend might be on the verge of slowing down – or even reversing. In some communities, the advantages of video conferencing and advancements in technology has allowed for the creation of partnerships between universities and other educational institutions in order to provide high quality, professional-level classes. Such classes help professionals keep their careers on track without having to leave for the big city.
One such partnership has developed between the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Otero Junior College, which is located in La Junta, CO. The University of Colorado provides engineering and nursing courses via a telepresence link, which has had an important impact on the rural community’s ability to provide high level healthcare to its residents.
2011
Cisco ūmi Family Expands, Adds Ability to Connect Directly with Corporate Cisco TelePresence Systems
Cisco is taking steps to bridge the gap between personal video conferencing systems like the Cisco ūmi and the corporate telepresence networks found in the Cisco TelePresence family of offerings. This past week, Cisco announced that not only will new products in the ūmi lineup be made available shortly, but that ūmi devices and software will be able to interface flawlessly with the video conferencing infrastructure currently employed by a wide range of major U.S. and global companies.
The goal of Cisco’s unifying effort is simple: help small, large and medium-sized businesses connect more directly with their clientele over a video connection. By making ūmi telepresence products completely compatible with the video conferencing solutions already deployed across the corporate landscape, Cisco is offering businesses the unprecedented ability to provide remote customer service directly in the home.
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2010
Six Ways Health Care Can Use Video Conferencing
By and large, the health care industry has lagged in adopting video communication solutions to achieve a higher level of service for their patients. But lately the tide is beginning to turn. Health care professionals are exploring ways to provide better patient care, monitor seniors, and extend services to rural areas through video conferencing technology, using specialized systems like TANDBERG’s Clinical Presence System and the Intern MXP. They are discovering how video can facilitate health care delivery in highly-effective and innovative ways, like to:
Improve collaboration. By connecting clinics and hospital chains, the health care industry can serve patients more effectively. Doctors and nurses at different geographic sites can collaborate on cases, share patient files, x-rays, MRIs, and other images that can help them make decisions faster and provide more complete care for patients.
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2010
Reaching the Hearing Impaired Via Video Conferencing
Video conferencing has become a common tool in many businesses. While it can streamline communications, hearing impaired individuals have often been left out. This is a sizable group: more than 30 million Americans are deaf or hearing impaired. TANDBERG, now part of Cisco, has worked with companies, such as Deaf Link, to develop video conferencing services for those individuals, so this area is undergoing significant growth. One reason for the interest is that businesses need to be able to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing customers in order to comply with government regulations. For instance, the Federal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 mandates equal access for individuals with disabilities.
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2010
Psychiatric Couches Take to the Air
Video conferencing has become popular in many business environments because it is quicker and more convenient than face-to-face communications. Those benefits are now being applied to the psychiatric profession as a growing number of practices are turning to telepresence systems to alleviate busy schedules and reach individuals in rural areas.
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2010
Virtual Doc Goes to Grade School
This fall, going to the nurse’s office may seem more like going into a television studio, at least for the 800 students attending Central Elementary School in Allentown, Penn. In June, Lehigh Valley Hospital went live with a telemedicine link providing the school with a “virtual doctor.”
Students with coughs, bellyaches, skinned knees and other complaints will still see the nurse face-to-face. But, the nurse’s room has a live, high-definition video feed connecting the grade school to the hospital if more help is needed. The school nurse uses the telemed link to connect to a doctor in the pediatric clinic should a grade-schooler become sick at school. The school nurse can “call-in” in the pediatrician for virtual help to diagnose the problem.
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2010
CMS Proposal Means Money for Telemedicine Providers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed a credentialing and privileging process for doctors and hospitals providing telemedicine services. The process, which is similar to that recommended by the Joint Commission, cuts out redundant and cumbersome steps in the existing credentialing of telehealth practitioners.
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