Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of expanding its virtual care capabilities is that more patients who may not live close to Moffitt are able to receive advanced cancer care through a combination of in-person and telemedicine visits.
“A lot of our post-op care is done by Zoom these days,” says Spiess. “Patients can get their surgical care, and, provided they don’t have any significant concerns, they can have a post-operative touchpoint from their homes. That has been a huge satisfier for patients and families while also allowing us to deliver care across the state.”
Collaboration Hardware Enhances Healthcare Teamwork
Another cancer facility, VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, located in Richmond, Va., uses Zoom and Microsoft Teams with advanced audiovisual systems in multiple conference rooms for meetings, classes and clinical presentations.
While all of the conference rooms include high-resolution touch screens for collaboration, the three rooms with the giant Planar LED video walls provide the most immersive experience for both live and virtual attendees. The largest video wall is 136 inches across (about 10 feet) and 5.5 feet high. Two other rooms each have 108-inch LED video walls (about 8 feet) that are 4.5 feet high.
The high-resolution video walls are ideal for sharing images of cancer cells, X-rays and MRIs. One computer in the room controls the lighting, the interface with the video wall and even the window coverings. Another one is used by meeting leaders to present on the screen or open a discussion.
Tyler Moats, an IT analyst with Massey, explains some of the other technologies in the conference room.
READ MORE: How does a managed services provider solve collaboration challenges?
“Anyone at the podium can use their own laptop or the built-in room PC to control what is seen on the screen. We can even hook up a microscope to the system,” he says. “We recently installed a Shure ceiling array microphone, which captures sound in the room much better than individual microphones. During a discussion, the microphone will detect who is speaking, and a camera will automatically focus on that person, so people are seamlessly communicating and collaborating in real time.”
The video walls are also easier to maintain than the old projector-based technology or the more recent LCD screens.
“In the past, if you got a dead pixel on a TV, that TV was trash. The Planar screens are made of panels. If there’s a problem, you pull the panel out and replace it. You don’t need to throw the whole thing away.”
Virtual Care Tools Expand Access to Quality Care
HealtheMed, based in Minneapolis, is a public benefit corporation that relies on a hybrid approach, providing in-person and virtual care to individuals who are eligible for at-home services through the state’s Medicaid waiver program.
“We empower patients to take control of their health at home before it progresses into illness,” says Wendy Cutting, vice president of product and engineering at HealtheMed. “Our top goals are to help patients adhere to their medications and avoid emergency department visits.”
Through the company’s Clinic@Home program, each patient receives a 50-inch Sony BRAVIA display. In addition to serving as a smart television, the Sony display runs the Clinic@Home application, which was designed to be as easy to use as a typical entertainment streaming applications such as Netflix. The app tracks medication compliance and collects data from connected remote patient monitoring devices such as thermometers, pulse oximeters, weight scales and blood pressure cuffs. The TV application also streams health videos to increase education and awareness. All these data points contribute to a health score, which is visible to patients as and their care teams at HealtheMed.
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