Connected Care program links vendor with UnitedHealth, patients with remote providers
Cisco this week announced a partnership with UnitedHealth Group to build a national “telehealth” network to allow patients to interact with physicians and specialists remotely.
The “Connected Care” network combines audio and video technology to enable access to physicians for patients in rural, urban and other underserved areas. UnitedHealth Group has committed tens of millions of dollars toward the initiative.
Cisco HealthPresence will be one of the principal technologies enabling Connected Care, using video, audio and medical information to create a virtual visit with a doctor. HealthPresence combines Cisco’s TelePresence virtual conferecing system with call center technology and a telemetry network.
Cisco’s Contact Center technology provides intelligent routing of caregiver communications.
UnitedHealth Group’s national care provider network is comprised of 590,000 physicians and healthcare providers, and more than 4,900 hospitals. It serves more than 70 million Americans with insurance, and care information and coordination.
Connected Care is intended to make these resources available in the workplace, as well as in rural and retail locations. In-home visits using similar technology will also be introduced in the future, Cisco says.
Citing data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, Cisco says that due to population growth, aging and other factors, the U.S. is facing a potential shortage of 159,000 primary care physicians by 2025. Cisco also says that other studies show that inconsistent access to physicians and other care providers results in poorer health.
Cisco says the two companies successfully tested the Connected Care program and HealthPresence technology in a pilot with Cisco employees in San Jose over a seven-month period. Other pilots included Aberdeen, Scotland and New Zealand, and UnitedHealth Group employees in Minneapolis are preparing to participate in a similar pilot.
The companies this week also unveiled the UnitedHealth Group Connected Care mobile clinic – an 18-wheel clinic showcasing the technology and connectivity available through the network.
There are six Connected Care programs in development that will assess how this approach is received in communities across the country. One of Connected Care’s first implementations is in a partnership between UnitedHealth Group and international health education and humanitarian assistance organization Project HOPE.
A Connected Care mobile clinic will help residents in New Mexico obtain health screenings and treatment. The program, to be available to residents in the first quarter of 2010, will have a focus on identifying and addressing diabetes and other chronic diseases.
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