Monday, January 23, 2012

Telemedicine takes off in Northeastern Ontario

The North East Local Health Integration Network in Ontario, Canada, is encouraging healthcare providers to adopt video conferencing technology to improve patient care and reduce overall costs. The network expects video conferencing to enable 30,000 virtual doctor visits in the region this year.




According to Laura Boston, senior project manager with the LHIN, telemedicine is more than a simple video link, and can save lives while improving efficiency.

"There's an electronic stethoscope for listening to live heart and breath sounds and an ENT light source for examining the ear, nose and mouth areas," Boston told CBC.

Telemedicine is also growing in the United States. The Institute for Health Technology Transformation recently announced it will host the iHT2 Health IT Summit in San Francisco this coming March.

The summit aims to connect physicians and IT decision makers to discuss new technologies, solutions and tools available for healthcare providers deploying mobile patient care and electronic medical records. Using video conferencing and unified communications, healthcare providers can stay connected with patients, share patient information for enhanced care and reduce costs associated with redundant testing or travel.

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