Lifesize® Room™ Brings Together Physicians, Dentists, and Other Medical Providers and Administrators across Six Colorado Counties for Meetings, Training Sessions and Patient Consultations
Lifesize®, the high definition video communications company, today announced that Salud Family Health Centers is optimizing their staff and services with Lifesize high definition video communications. Salud implemented Lifesize® Room™ systems across the six counties it serves throughout North Central and Northeastern Colorado in order to bring together physicians, dentists, and other medical providers and administrators for various meetings, training sessions and patient consultations. Lifesize Room is a high definition video communications product that allows geographically distributed participants in multiple locations to experience more effective, true-to-life interactions.
Salud operates fourteen clinics in nine very diverse communities encompassing six thousand square miles – some in very rural areas – so Salud physicians would travel 150 miles or more between locations for required meetings and appointments. Commute times and associated expenses, as well as lost productivity and client interactions, led to Salud evaluating videoconferencing solutions that would enable the Centers to realize greater overall efficiencies.
“As we evaluated a number of videoconferencing options, quality and investment protection were key considerations for determining the right solution,” said John Santistevan, CFO of Salud Family Health Centers. “We have been very pleased with our decision to implement Lifesize high definition video communications due to the quality of the transmissions and cost savings opportunities.”
Salud uses Lifesize Room systems to conduct approximately ten videoconferencing sessions each month with attendees in various locations. These interactions include compliance and certification trainings such as HIPAA and OSHA, client consultations and recently even a review of Salud’s Avian Flu preparedness plan. Lifesize Room provides multimedia sharing so that all meeting attendees can see each other and various content simultaneously, thus allowing participants to stay focused and engaged just as if they were in the same physical location.
“Video communications in real time encourages the type of lively interaction that you find when everyone is meeting in the same room,” said Jennifer Morse, development director at Salud Family Health Centers.
As a result of Lifesize Room, Salud has reduced travel costs since staff members no longer need to go from clinic-to-clinic to accomplish what can be done effectively over video instead. Salud’s physicians, dentists and other medical providers are able to focus even more on their patients, which have subsequently increased patient outreach and related revenue. Lifesize high definition video communications will also allow Salud the opportunity to cost-effectively expand its training curriculum and, in the future, extend the Centers’ reach to other outside medical facilities for enhancing patient care.
“Telemedicine is becoming a significant high definition video communications application given the many different ways it has a positive impact on the quality of life,” said Craig Malloy, CEO of Lifesize. “Salud is very representative of Lifesize telemedicine customers that are benefiting from this progressive technology by providing improved and enhanced services to their constituents while also increasing their operational efficiencies and bottom-lines.”
Lifesize Room, with its patent-pending industrial design and high definition technology, offers the very best price-to-performance available on the market. By delivering higher video quality at all bandwidths, Lifesize Room enables every type of business around the world to realize a greatly enhanced user experience.
About Salud Family Health Centers
Salud Family Health Center is a Community Health Center that provides health care to the low-income, medically undeserved population. Salud is an extensive primary health care delivery system with 14 community, migrant, teen, children and women’s health clinics in nine service sites in northeastern and north central Colorado and in six counties.
Salud has developed collaborations with area hospitals, physician groups, mental health agencies, and health departments to insure a strong referral system and access to a variety of services for patients. Salud promotes prevention and early intervention, thus keeping underinsured or uninsured individuals out of hospital emergency rooms. Salud employs over 390 people, including providers. In 2006, Salud provided health care services to 66,000 patients through 230,000 patient visits.
Salud is dedicated to maintaining high standards of performance. Salud has received accreditation, with commendation, by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
