Forget simply making phone calls on a mobile device. Smartphones these days can send e-mails, get directions, post a social media status, watch a mobile video and take a picture all within the same minute. Social networking isn’t the only function for mobile unified communications, however. The healthcare industry is adopting medical video technology for unified communications at a steadily growing rate.
Five years ago, healthcare organizations used traditional video conferencing to improve collaboration between physicians and staff located in different areas. Now, healthcare organizations use video conferencing to connect physicians with patients in remote medical facilities and locations.
"Video technology is helping medical facilities share information and expertise, through both video conferencing and video streaming services," said Ira Weinstein, partner and senior analyst at Wainhouse Research.
Video streaming services for real-time and prerecorded media has grown, with many YouTube (News - Alert)-like applications making an appearance on hospital organizations’ and medical centers’ websites.
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Fla. uses Cisco Systems’ (News - Alert) Pulse video search engine for its medical research and learning procedures, which uses voice recognition software to automatically tag (News - Alert) all uploaded content by topic, keyword phrases and speaker. The medical video technology enjoys a 95 percent adoption rate among the center’s 4,500 research and medical staff employees.
Unified communications professionals at the Moffitt center are developing a video search engine for external uses and patients, expected to go live on the hospital’s website next fall.
My Weight Doctor, a diet center based in Washington, D.C., employs a video conferencing platform from LifeSize (News - Alert) as a way to unify physicians for weekly meetings and recently extended its use of the technology to conferencing with patients. Since that decision, there has been an increase in its pateitn count.
Healthcare organizations should remember to look to technology to improve communication, supplement patient care and bolster research methods and choose a solution based on the technical requirements and capabilities, not on vendor name recognition.
Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem? Then be sure to attend the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Co-sponsored by TMC (News - Alert) Partner Crossfire Media the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo provides unmatched networking opportunities and a robust conference program representing the mobile ecosystem. The conference not only brings together the best and brightest in the wireless industry, it actually spans the communications and technology industry. For more information on registering for the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo click here.
Stay in touch with everything happening at Mobility Tech Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
Edited by Allison Boccamazzo