Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 - (Page 19)

norm for every school district, Rolfes says there are concerns, also, with adoption rates. “Educators often have very little time to learn about new technologies or the potential of such applications as IP videoconferencing.” His suggestion? Telecoms should take some initiative themselves, helping members of the education community by doing demos of the newest innovations. “Companies could use their multi-state presence to help facilitate collaborative relationships between education entities in different regions. One idea is for providers to offer mini-grants to teachers who are willing to explore new applications or videoconferencing with new content providers in other states.” To the extent possible,” he adds, “[Carriers] need to work together to provide affordable transport solutions.” of e-medicine was put into practice about ﬁve years ago at northern Virginia’s Inova Health System, and Cowboy was on hand as visitors from more than 70 other health care companies got their ﬁrst glimpse of health care’s future, along with senators, ambassadors and doctors from all over the globe. She has since moved on to pioneer telehealth in the heartland. Via Christi’s eCare ICU is one of just 39 centers in the world to base specialty-trained nurses and inten- sivist doctors in a CORE (Clinical Operation Room Environment). “Broadband,” she says matter-offactly, “is the connecting thread of what we do. Some of our hospitals are hundreds of miles from our CORE. With high-speed broadband connections we are able to coordinate the bedside care team to deliver synchronous cardioversion.” In English? “Literally, we are helping to restart hearts over our secured camera and wired network.” E-Health: Lowering Costs, Raising the Bar for Care As the population ages, as medical care becomes more complex, as the costs continue to soar while insurance coverage decreases, advancements in telecommunications are giving specialized health care providers the opportunity to be at more bedsides than could ever be possible in the physical world—with results that are just as, or perhaps even more, compelling. “There are approximately 6,000 board-certiﬁed physicians in critical care to cover the millions of people who require their attention,” says Dr. Elizabeth Cowboy, medical director for Via Christi Health System’s eCare ICU in Wichita, Kansas. “Broadband allows us to be in more than one place and lead a team of highly skilled medical professionals to assist in their care, crossing state and national boundaries, bringing the patients—virtually—to the expert doctor.” Telecritical care is little more than a toddler in the medical realm, but it’s braced for a sprint. The theory 372723_MartinGrp.indd 1 Summer 2008 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS 7:55:08 AM 3/4/08 19 http://www.martin-group.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008

Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 Up Front Contents TeleBites Delivering the Broadband Future Deriving Revenue from Today's Broadband World The Right Way to Operate Data Centers Buyers' Guide Industry Calendar Advertisers DotCom Index to Advertisers Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008

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