IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Organizations are already using videoconferencing tools to save money, increase productivity and reduce travel time. Now, the rise of smartphones and tablets is ushering an era of ubiquitous video delivered from specialized high-end telepresence rooms through to personal desktop and mobile devices, Tony Czipak, head of portfolio and partnerships of BT Asia-Pacific, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail.

Qinghai is the largest province in China, stretching across the northeastern Tibetan Plateau over an area of 721,000 km2 - 7.5 per cent of the country. But Qinghai has one of the country’s smallest populations; 5.2 million people are scattered in pockets of the vast expanse of mountains, deserts and grasslands.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has been given until October 2011 to create standards for video consultations with GPs.

The college revealed late Friday that it had been engaged by the Department of Health and Ageing to develop the telehealth standards.

College president Claire Jackson said the creation of nationwide telehealth standards were important, "given Medicare rebates and financial incentives for video consultations [with] patients in outer metropolitan, regional and remote Australia, across a range of specialties, will be available from 1 July 2011."

It will meet amid concerns that overstretched communications networks will shortly no longer be able to meet its needs and the national broadband network (NBN) may not deliver the fast, reliable broadband system the Service needs.

“Due to the remote areas in which we operate, the Flying Doctor has always been innovative and embraced new technology,” said Mrs Joan Treweeke, President RFDS SE Section.

Since 1 July, doctors have been eligible to receive a one-off payment for installing videoconferencing equipment for use in consultations of $6000 and an additional amount per consultation for conducting video conferencing consultations.

The idea is that patients in remote or regional areas will have better access to technology via video-conferencing appointments set up through their GP.

"New Medicare items will allow a range of existing consultation services to be provided via video conferencing and additional rebates on top of these items recognize the increased complexity of providing a service to a remote patient", said Health Minister Nicola Roxon.

The controversial scheme would see late-night patients assessed using a video link to the Tweed Heads Hospital.

But the chief executive of the local health network, Chris Crawford, says equipment is still being installed and he's yet to make a final decision.

These incentives include a $6000 bonus payment for health practitioners when they use the new technology to provide a consultation for the first time, and $20 every time a telehealth service is bulk-billed in the first year.

New Medicare items will be created for existing consultation services provided using a video phone and additional rebates will be paid on top of these items, “to recognise the increased complexity of providing a service to a remote patient”.

The virtual-assistance telehealth system has been installed at Mullumbimby Hospital. Patients admitted to the emergency ward will have to consult doctors at weed Heads, more than 50km away, via video link between 11pm and 7pm.

This month The Sunday Telegraph revealed the trial had riled the community, which feared the system could risk lives.

The South West Alliance of Rural Health (SWARH) is comprised of over 15 facilities over 60,000 square kilometres in rural Victoria, and has teamed up with Cisco and Dimension Data to deploy the teleconferencing company's new Virtualisation Experience Infrastructure offering (VXI) to improve communication and patient care.

VXI sees an endpoint device deployed next to a virtualised PC that optimises videoconferencing and reduces load on the datacentre.

The Barcoo and Diamantina councils are planning to put about $3 million into fibre-optic networks in the region to complement the Federal Government's national broadband network.

Barcoo Mayor Bruce Scott says rural schools and businesses cannot move ahead with technological changes unless services are upgraded now.

"All the 64 district administration offices are already under optical fibre network which can provide high speed internet connection to manage video conference," Additional Secretary of cabinet division Khandkar Anwarul Islam told BSS yesterday.

The federal government will continue consolidating its IT and back office systems, make more use of videoconferencing and try to reduce the amount of software and hardware licencing fees its pays in its efforts to slash Ottawa’s spending over the next five years.

These are some of the nuggets found in the budget released Thursday by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, which also said also said the Conservative government will spend $1 billion on support of science and technology, much of which will go to helping start up companies through supporting venture capital.

This first implementation of Cisco’s HealthPresence solution in Kenya demonstrated how technology can transform the delivery of healthcare to underserved, remote, and rural areas. Bandwidth connectivity was provided by Safaricom, the leading provider of converged communication solutions in Kenya.

As part of the Pan-African e-network project between India and Africa that was launched last year, DU will start conducting these unique tele-education classes for students of the African Union from July this year.

To provide patients and clinicians with more convenience, and reduce the need for in-person visits, the NHS has commissioned the deployment of a secure, made-for-purpose video conferencing solution that connects clinicians to patients at home in scheduled online appointments.

Airedale telemedicineAiredale NHS Foundation Trust in the Yorkshire Dales has won a contract to provide medial advice and diagnosis over a video link to the Isle of Wight prisons.

The telemedicine system enables officers in the prison to have direct access to doctors in A&E and other specialist area to discuss things such as break or a bad cut, or even for the prisoner to a doctor in Airedale the affected area.

Airedale Hospital will provide its groundbreaking video link facilities to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight.

The jail once housed infamous killers including Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Moors Murderer Ian Brady and the Kray twins.

This HD video communication solution enables the hospitals in Linares and San Carlos to connect with specialists in Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano and carry out remote specialized consultations -- as a result accelerating the process of attending to patients.

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, the Acting Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, inaugurated a pilot high definition video conference between courts and jails. The pilot launch includes City Civil Court, Bangalore and District Court, Managlore and six district prisons such as Mysore, Dharwad, Kalburgi, Vijayapura and Bellary.

Speaking to iamin, Dr Rathan Kelkar, chief executive officer, Centre for e-Governance, Government of Karnataka, said the initiative would minimize the delay in taking prisoners to produce them in the court due to shortage of manpower. “This will reduce the burden on police and prison staff to accompany the undertrials to the court. It will save time and enable the judges to give verdict on the punishment or acquittal,’’ Dr Kelkar said.