Rhode Island integrator shores up telehealth solutions practice
As testament to its fast-growing footprint in healthcare solutions, integrator Carousel Industries of Exeter, R.I., has appointed Brian Douglas to drive business development for its healthcare and telemedicine practices.
Douglas' background includes clinical sales expertise involving surgical and medical devices from companies such as Stryker, Kyphone and Medtronic. He also worked for both Polycom and AMD Global Telemedicine, where he was responsible for designing telemedicine systems in conjunction with technology companies including Polycom, Tandberg and Cisco.
In his new role as business development manager for public sector, Carousel Industries, Douglas said he will concentrate on evangelizing the role of telemedicine technologies as a way for healthcare providers to rethink their care-providing processes.
Today, many people associate these sorts of solutions with projects and grants focused on rural geographies and funded by state grants. But telemedicine and teleheath technologies can play a much larger role in helping hospital systems and providers handle patient care far more efficiently, Douglas said. In particular, these technologies can help organizations handle basic concerns more quickly, enabling patients to be referred to specialists as necessary and working to address the waiting periods -- or long travel distances -- that have come to be associated with certain doctors' visits.
One Carousel Industries client that has already invested in collaborative telemedicine is Northern Georgia Health Services, a healthcare system with approximately 500 physicians and more than 5,000 employees that is based in Gainesville, Ga.
Back in 2012, the hospital teamed up with two other regional health systems along with Emory University both to handle training for nurse practioners and to bring telemedicine services to critical intensive care units. The solution, funded with an $11 million grant, includes videconferencing, instant messaging, scheduling and mobile device support, among other features. Technologies that are playing a role in the solution include the Polycom HDX7000 Media Center, Converged Management Application, RMX2000 Real Time Conferencing and the VBP 5300-E10 Video Bridge; plus Microsoft Lync Server 2010, SharePoint and InfoPath.
In the corporate sector, some companies are also experimenting with telehealth solutions at manufacturing and production locations. Douglas cites the examples of oil rig operators and a Caterpillar manufacturing site in Texas.
Either way, Carousel's background in both infrastructure and compelling applied solutions positions it to participate in the telehealth movement.
“Carousel has a clear advantage in its ability to provide solutions for the public sector, considering its vast expertise in networking, data, security and other critical areas," Douglas said when he was appointed. "These technical disciplines represent the foundation of our offering, and I look forward to working with each of our product managers to create extremely targeted solution bundles for our customers."