Embedding Video Collaboration Technology into Clinical Workflows: Solving the Problems of Limited Access to Critical Medical Care and Services.

From mobile healthcare applications to bedside medical consultations via video collaboration, new telehealth practices and technologies are today allowing patients to access and communicate with healthcare professionals easily and effectively via telemedicine. From all indications, these recent innovations and technological breakthroughs in healthcare delivery, could not have come at a better time.

According to Patrick Moorhead, former board chair at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, Texas, and President of Moor Insights & Strategy, the demand for medical services has steadily increased over the last two decades, while the pool of medical professionals, especially specialists, continues to shrink. "As a result, patient access to the right physician for his or her condition increasingly requires costly travel by patient and/or physician, and patient treatment is frequently delayed due to long queues for qualified specialists. And those are the patients who have access to healthcare at all; still too much of the world, including rural areas in the US, lies outside the reach of providers today."

Moorhead's sentiments are echoed by Thomas Hale, executive medical director of Telehealth Services at Mercy, the sixth largest Catholic health system in the U.S. The St. Louis-based network of hospitals and health facilities spanning four states is reinventing models for fast and efficient medical diagnosis and delivery with the use of the VidyoWorks platform. "One of the biggest problems healthcare facilities are facing across the U.S., is that there isn't adequate access to healthcare," said Hale. "With Vidyo, we are now capable of reaching those who need us the most, when they need us, wherever they are. Vidyo gives us the required high level of visual acuity, regardless of what kind of device you are communicating with and what level of bandwidth is available."

Vidyo's success at Mercy and scores of other healthcare networks around the world exemplifies best-in-breed delivery of healthcare. Vidyo's feature-rich APIs allow video to be integrated into electronic medical records, practice management systems, e-ICU systems and virtually any healthcare workflow. Because Vidyo works over any network and on the devices patients and practitioners already use, deployment is easy, delivering award-winning quality at a price point unmatched by any other video conferencing provider. Mercy SafeWatch system is one of many shining examples of Vidyo's contribution to the transformation of healthcare in the U.S. and beyond. To watch a video report that details this breakthrough healthcare delivery system, click here.

Source: Vidyo