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Lifesize® Cloud video conferencing connects clinics, physicians and patients with a single click

As video conferencing technology takes on a trusted role in healthcare, it’s moving from large hospital settings to doctors’ offices, rural clinics and even into patients’ homes—making it possible for people to get the care they need whenever and wherever they need it. Specifically, video conferencing opens a window for patients to talk with physicians face to face without having to travel to a medical office.

But using video in place of an in-person medical consultation is not without challenges. Physicians and patients both need to have the assurance that they can still develop a real connection through the technology and that the experience of going over important medical documents and imaging will be just as effective as if they were meeting in person.

This means finding a connection that works anywhere, on any device, with stellar visuals and rock-solid security. As the Texas Back Institute discovered, finding the right cloud video conferencing solution makes this prescription much easier to fill.

“Ease for the end user is key. Thankfully we found a solution like that in Lifesize.”

Goodbye to video conferencing tools that stalled collaboration

The Texas Back Institute (TBI) is one of the largest freestanding
spine centers in the world, with 200 employees in more than a
dozen clinics in the Greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Its surgical
team specializes in advanced spinal procedures and the use
of robotics, intraoperative CT imaging systems and computerassisted
navigation. These minimally invasive tools and
techniques can help pinpoint the source of a patient’s neck or
back pain while also greatly reducing the impact of surgery on
the body.

But before recommending any type of surgery, TBI physicians
first thoroughly review each patient’s medical history, imaging
results and diagnostic tests, sometimes convening a nine doctor,
peer-review committee to discuss treatment and
options. Having video conferencing in the main office as well
as in outlying clinics helps make these reviews and other
consultations and meetings easier for busy physicians to
attend.

The original video conferencing system in the main office was
installed by contractors, according to IT system administrator
Jared Bares. The outlying clinics featured a more expedient
setup: a break room TV with a computer, microphone and
camera. But in order to ensure doctors could simply show up
at the right time and place for a meeting, one of TBI’s eight IT
professionals had to talk employees through plugging a cable
into the TV’s HDMI port, and then remotely connect with the
computer to set up the meeting and get everything ready to go.

The IT team also had to wrangle connectivity issues outside
the network, such as making sure systems used by other
offices worked with the in-house solution and verifying that
offsite employees and patients had what they needed to join
meetings remotely.

“We routinely had physicians and other employees who
wanted to connect from outside of the TBI network, and
the solution we had in place at the time was not easy to
deal with,” he says.

Simplified installation that “just works”

At the suggestion of a trusted vendor, TBI moved to the
Lifesize Cloud video conferencing solution. Bares says the
service works with their existing equipment, making it both
affordable and convenient. It’s also easier to administer and
maintain because of features like automatic software updates
and 24×7 support.

As for setup, “All we have to do is basically install the
software, plug in the hardware—and it just works,” Bares says.

This ease extends to employees as well. The simple user
interface makes it easy for anyone with an account to
initiate one-on-one video calls or larger meetings, so IT
doesn’t need to travel to remote offices to connect video
systems to the service. Instead, they can just email a
meeting invite to participants, who then simply click on a
link to connect to the meeting.

For physicians, Lifesize Cloud boosts productivity by making
it possible to see more patients—particularly patients
who can’t come into the office. Instead, they can set up a
consultation via Lifesize to review images and “run through
all the typical things the doctor would normally point out”
during a regular office visit.

TBI employees have also told Bares they like being able to
connect names to faces in larger committee meetings—a
useful feature in a large company with colleagues who may
not always get a chance to meet in person. They value the
ability to mute outside participants as they join meetings,
which cuts down on background noise and distractions. And
they like being able to make video images full-screen and to
share and resize documents on the fly.

But ultimately, the most important feature of Lifesize Cloud
is how fast and easy it is for everyone to use. “Ease for the end
user is key. Thankfully we found a solution like that in Lifesize.”

A simple solution for connecting doctors
and patients anywhere, on any device

Lifesize connects award-winning video conferencing systems,
browser-based desktop and mobile apps to a radically
simplified cloud video service. The result is unmatched
simplicity and brilliant high-definition video that enables
people meeting on-screen to feel like they’re all in the same
room.

Lifesize Cloud supports Mac® and PC, the latest iOS and
Android™ mobile devices, and the Google Chrome™ browser,
making it easy to join meetings from almost any device.
“What’s nice about Lifesize is that users can be on their phones,
their tablets or their computers—pretty much wherever they
have a data connection—and they can jump into a meeting
even if they’re not physically at one of our locations,” Bares says.

Participants can add or remove attendees, merge meetings,
record and share calls, and make calls directly from their
browsers. They can also dig into features like calendar
integration, one-on-one and group chat, and audio-only
calling.

All of these options are backed by the robust security
features of Lifesize Cloud, which include automatic firewall
traversing and secure AES 128-bit encryption. “When it
comes to security in IT and any clinical office, you’re dealing
with patient information, and that’s a huge deal. Lifesize put us
at ease with their system.”