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Loddon Mallee Health Alliance is bridging the distance between trauma patients in rural areas and city-based medical specialists in an effort to continue the global trend toward telehealth. The Australia-based company is using innovative high-definition (HD) visual communication solutions from Polycom Inc.

A global provider of telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, Polycom (News - Alert) offers this unique virtual trauma application to connect specialists in metropolitan Melbourne to the bedside of critically ill patients in regional hospitals across the state of Victoria.

As a result of this solution, providers are able to make faster decisions on the right treatment plan while also avoiding the unnecessary time, costs and stress associated with having patients travel as much as six hours to be assessed by a specialist in person.

The Polycom Practitioner Card HDX is being used by Loddon Mallee Health Alliance to facilitate real-time, face-to-face interactions between the specialists and remotely located patients and doctors. The solution can also enable the instant transfer of patients’ vital signs, clinical test results and x-rays.

Visual communication technology within the solution is considered to be critical to the effectiveness of the virtual assessment process as it powers the practitioner cars to combine HD video, HD audio and HD image sharing to create a life-like virtual meeting experience that enables specialists and patients to communicate as clearly and naturally as if situated in the same room.

In choosing Polycom’s open standards-based video technology, LMHA also has the ability to maximize its return on investment through the addition of the external plug-and-play medical peripheral devices that facilitate other telehealth applications to improve the efficiency and quality of patient care.

"The emergence of HD video technology has evolved telehealth to a level where it not only provides clinical efficacy, but also satisfies the assessment and modality requirements of healthcare professionals," said Ron Emerson (News - Alert), RN-BSN, global director of healthcare at Polycom, chair of the American Telemedicine Association Industry Council, and board member of the American Telemedicine Association, in a Monday statement.

"As LMHA's use of Polycom's telehealth solution demonstrates, ensuring clinicians can observe and hear subtle patient nuances are integral to an effective consultation over distance. HD voice and video clarity, together with the exchange of high resolution content, ensures virtual trauma assessments are as accurate as when specialists are in the same room as patients."

"These technology developments are driving a shift to increased telehealth adoption globally. Aside from LMHA, we are seeing other leading healthcare providers worldwide seek to increase their coverage and quality of service delivery through telehealth -- Ontario province in Canada, the University of Texas Medical Branch and NuPhysicia to name just a few examples," added Emerson.

Enabling rural and remote trauma patients to avoid travel has many important benefits, according to LMHA Chief Information Officer, Bruce Winzar.

"Being able to bring a Melbourne-based specialist to the bedsides of critically ill patients in our regional hospitals over video helps LMHA to efficiently and effectively achieve the best healthcare outcomes for those patients -- maximizing our resources as a provider, and delivering precious relief to the patients and their families in what can be very stressful circumstances," said Winzar, in the Monday statement.

"Using Polycom's telehealth solution, delivered over a high-speed broadband network, LMHA is able to extend the same healthcare opportunities to rural patients that their counterparts in the city have access to."

Industry Award Bestowed on LMHA Telehealth Solution

The Australian Telecommunications User Group (ATUG) has recognized the innovation and impact of the virtual trauma application. This Annual National Award for the Effective Use of Broadband in the Healthcare category was presented to LMHA.

"The ATUG awards point to the power of advanced communications services and true broadband in making a real difference," said Rosemary Sinclair, managing director of ATUG, in Monday’s statement.

"The LMHA telehealth deployment is a good example of how the proliferation of broadband internet globally, together with advances in high definition technology, is driving new applications for visual communication that have not been possible before."

Polycom has been able to successfully deliver the necessary solution to make a difference for LMHA; so much so that the healthcare provider was actually recognized for its choice and implementation of the Polycom solution.

This implementation not only helped to boost the level of accessibility offered by LMHA, it also ensured that the facility could cater to those facing a geographic challenge in receiving quality healthcare. By allowing LMHA to make a measurable difference in the delivery of its services, Polycom will be better positioned to drive additional implementations throughout the global industry.