Video Conferencing

Video conferencing uses two-way interactive audio-video technology to connect users when a live, face-to-face consultation is necessary.

Video devices can include videoconferencing units, peripheral cameras, videoscopes, or web cameras. Display devices can include computer monitors, television sets, or LCD projectors. Video conferencing is an effective health care tool for a variety of applications.

Emergency Room/Intensive Care Unit Support

• Video conferencing connects emergency physicians with medical specialists who otherwise would not be available for consultations. For example, critical care physicians at community hospitals can consult with specialists at academic medical centers.
• Remote intensive-care unit monitoring programs at hospitals provide 24-hour backup to ICU medical staffs, via a combination of real-time video observation of patients, interactive video communications with on-site ICU providers, and digital patient monitoring equipment.

Consultations

• Providers can discuss patient cases, regardless of location, and without the need for travel.
• Primary care providers can consult with medical specialists who are not available locally.
• Medical specialists can examine patients in separate locations. This includes situations where the physician needs to directly observe the patient, such as range-of-motion exams, or when distance is a barrier, as is the case with patients in rural and underserved urban areas.
• Video conferencing can provide cost-effective access to care for patients who are incarcerated.
• Video conferencing can facilitate care for patients in need of psychiatric services, who may otherwise be reluctant to keep appointments in person at a psychiatric provider's office.
• Patients with limited mobility can receive medical care without the need to travel further than their own primary care provider's office.
• Language translators can provide video interpretation services to multiple locations, a cost-effective expansion of these programs.

Health Education

• Video conferencing allows medical professionals to conduct Continuing Medical Education programs with attendees in multiple locations.
• Patients can take disease management courses or receive other important health information.

Video Conferencing Successes

Studies have shown that video conferencing services can produce positive health outcomes that at times exceed the performance of non-telehealth treatment. For example:

• A 2008 study examined stroke patient consultations between emergency physicians at four community hospitals and stroke specialists at a separate location. It compared patient assessments conducted by telephone with assessments conducted via a telehealth stroke consultation program, which included video conferencing and store-and-forward images of CT brain scans. More than 98% of patients in the telehealth program received correct treatment decisions, compared to 82% of patients in the telephone-only assessment. The timely use of optimal treatments can mean the difference between a stroke patient's substantial recovery, and death or long-term disability.
• A 2007 study found that patients in a medically underserved rural area who received psychiatric services via video conference had clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction levels that were equal to patients who received face-to-face services. In addition, video conferencing services were 10% less expensive per patient than in-person services.