Two doctors discuss a complicated neonatology case. The baby, born with multiple birth defects, needs an operation to survive. The local specialist is concerned with the odds of survival, given the patient’s age, delicate medical condition, and limited hands-on experience with the disease. So he calls in the world’s expert. They will co-manage the case, even if they are working in two different hospitals in two different continents.
Ten years ago this wouldn’t have been possible. But hospitals are now connecting to each other, via the Internet and VoIP, to allow specialists to share information and work together on certain cases. The doctors talk on the phone. The tests are emailed or faxed. Cameras hooked to the computers even allow real-time virtual examinations – which is so much like virtual video games.
The additional cost is manageable, especially when one considers how it dramatically improves the hospital’s ability to provide the best possible medical care to its patients. And it is especially important given how specialized the medical profession has become, and how a person’s life can be saved simply by being “seen” by someone who has dedicated his career to studying that particular condition. The experience of that specialist—the cases he has handled, the research he has made, his awareness of developments or experimental treatments that may not have trickled down to the rest of the medical community—can swing even the most difficult odds towards the patient’s favor.
Through VOIP those specialists become part of a hospital’s stable of consultants. While the day-to-day care still rests with the primary physician, they can still confer with their peers on high risk cases. It is just one of the ways VOIP is making a big difference in people’s lives.