Cisco has announced the general availability of the newest version of Cisco HealthPresence® technology, an advanced care-at-a-distance platform that connects patients and clinicians via high-definition video, audio, medical devices and collaboration tools.
The updated offering provides new deployment options with enhanced security and efficiency capabilities to deliver patient care from a wider range of locations. Cisco HealthPresence also supports integrated workflow features to improve information exchange by increasing access to data such as electronic medical records.
Saint Thomas Health, a family of hospitals based in Tennessee, is using Cisco HealthPresence to provide healthcare access to patients in areas where medical resources are scarce, while also helping to improve care delivery and outcomes.
MissionPoint Health Partners, founded by Saint Thomas Health, is a new platform for healthcare delivery that brings doctors, nurses, hospitals and other care providers together to share the responsibility for keeping patients healthy. Cisco HealthPresence is key to helping MissionPoint Health Partners meet Accountable Care Organization standards set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.
Jason Dinger, chief executive officer, MissionPoint Health Partners, a division of Saint Thomas Health comments:
“With a shortage of medical professionals in our underserved communities in Tennessee, the Cisco HealthPresence solution bridges the gap between patients in rural areas and physicians or specialists who aren’t always available locally. With Cisco HealthPresence whole communities open up for you to be able to deliver care in an efficient and affordable way. Our hope is that we can expand HealthPresence to new communities, bring more specialists on board and increase care to more patients.”
Cisco HealthPresence also helps medical professionals provide care to patients in hard-to-reach areas. Doctors at Telerad RxDx, a multi-specialty hospital in Bangalore, India, have been using Cisco HealthPresence to provide medical care to patients living in Raichur, located in North Karnataka in India. Based on successful initial results, Telerad RxDx plans to increase deployment of Cisco’s telehealth services to continue to improve healthcare delivery in remote locations.
Cisco HealthPresence works with medical diagnostic equipment, such as stethoscopes and otoscopes, to capture patient information, while also allowing patients to interactively discuss their conditions with their physicians remotely using Cisco HealthPresence’s high-definition video and rich audio. In addition to connecting care teams and patients in rural communities, Cisco HealthPresence is also being utilized in urban environments to help doctors see more patients within a given session and facilitate training and information exchange between healthcare providers around the world.
