Integrator Carousel teams with Polycom, NuPhysicia on telehealth solution
Video technology and unified communications integrator Carousel Industries has teamed up with videoconferencing vendor Polycom and software developer NuPhysicia to create a bundled telehealth solution that addresses caseload management.
The service, called DistribuCare, will enable hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and other healthcare organizations to create a "virtual waiting room" for patients, before they are assigned to a visit with a doctor or nurse. The idea is to create an additional way for people visiting busy healthcare facilities to receive care, perhaps by a provider in one of several remote locations who can "see" them over the telehealth service rather than in person.
"Medical experts are preparting for an enormous increase in patient caseloads as more people in the U.S. gain access to health insurance," said James Marsh, senior vice president at Carousel, in the press release announcing the new service. "DistribuCare enables medical networks to better manage this rising demand for healthcare, while providing for a faster and efficient experience for their patients."
The solution combines Polycom's enterprise-grade video communications equipment (already used in eight of the top 10 hospitals in the United States) with a patented telemedicine and medical caseload management service created by NuPhysicia. The focus is on coordinating care more efficiently: more than one virtual location can be included; NuPhysicia helps balance cases so that patients can be managed across more than one location. Carousel provides the network integration skills and services to manage the system. It already provides IT management and services to healthcare companies including Quest Diagnostics, Connecticut Children's Medical Center and BlueCross BlueShield.
The companies don't publish the pricing for the technology, because that depends on the scale required and the number of locations being supported.