06/21/06

A stroke victim in a Kansas hospital receiving a visit from a neurosurgeon seated in row 12 of a jet high over the Pacific Ocean may sound like science fiction, but it is about to become a reality. Mobile health care systems developer Global Care Quest (GCQ) has introduced integrated clinical information system (ICIS) Live, a system that allows physicians to connect to virtually any hospital video conferencing or telemedicine system with little more than a laptop computer and high speed mobile Internet connection.

ICIS Live is the newest addition to GCQ’s ICIS, a suite of solutions that pull patient data from hospital systems and send it to physician’s computers, handheld devices, and mobile phones. With ICIS doctors have real-time access to diverse patient information sources such as x-rays, CT scans, lab results, patient notes, and bedside monitoring equipment, whether they are in the hospital, across town, or halfway around the globe.

The system was developed in response to the large number of regional hospital networks who already have a telemedicine solution, but needed to make it accessible to doctors in their offices, clinics, and remote locations. The system will also be particularly useful to rural and smaller hospitals that need access to specialized physicians but do not have the budget or staffing to support the additional expense.

“Most video conferencing systems in health care require the physician to be at a location with one of these systems in place. But doctors are mobile professionals, and getting to a hospital with the right kind of telemedicine system isn’t always an option, especially if you’re traveling or doing a consult halfway across the country,” said GCQ Chief Executive Cleve Adams.

ICIS Live can operate as a stand-alone video conference access system or as an integrated component of the ICIS Dashboard, which allows physicians to see all of the patient’s information—labs, x-rays, notes, bedside monitor output, etc—on a single computer screen.