Medical IT Company Helps Physicians Provide Immediate Care through Lync Online

Companies of all types and sizes are taking advantage of immense benefits from cloud computing. Today, let’s learn from US Medical IT why they chose the Microsoft cloud to assist healthcare!

“Through Lync Online we can provide a telemedicine solution that reduces the time it takes for patients to access specialists. That is good for both doctors and patients.” --Stephen Cracknell, Managing Partner, US Medical IT

US Medical IT
US Medical IT is a boutique IT services and project management firm based in Dallas, Texas, that helps medical practices implement technology solutions, such as electronic medical records (EMR) and telemedicine services. The firm also provides comprehensive, IT services based on Microsoft Online Services.

IT Challenges
One of the medical practices that US Medical IT provides support for is Dallas Neurosurgical & Spine (DNS), a private, neurosurgical specialty practice group in North Texas. Several years ago, a pipe burst at the main DNS office, which compromised expensive equipment and displaced the practice for a number of weeks while repairs were completed. At that point, DNS knew that it needed to find a more secure location to house its critical technology. As a result of the experience, the practice enlisted US Medical IT to move key services onto the Microsoft Online Services platform. US Medical IT is also helping the practice convert from paper to electronic, medical records.

DNS also provides care to patients overseas. One doctor works part-time in Saudi Arabia, and two others make regular medical mission trips to Peru to work with patients who don’t have access to quality healthcare. DNS wanted to set up a solution where doctors could travel less frequently but continue to provide follow-up care to patients who they had operated on when they were in that country.

DNS was interested in developing a telemedicine solution so that it could offer follow-up care to patients who are recovering from surgery and live in remote, rural areas. In the past, rural, post-surgery patients would have to visit a facility that provides magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) service, and then bring the images on a disc to the specialists at DNS offices.

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IT Solution and Benefits
As a Microsoft Certified Partner, US Medical IT reached out to Microsoft to see if, together, they could provide the technology platform DNS needed to deliver a telemedicine solution. That was how it learned about the high-fidelity features built into Microsoft Office 365, which brings together cloud-based versions of the popular Microsoft Office communication and collaboration applications.

DNS had no in-house IT staff to manage an on-premises solution, but it still needed a robust communication solution that would enable it to hold audio and video conferences and share high-fidelity medical images in an interactive setting. To meet these requirements, US Medical IT determined that Microsoft Lync Online, part of the Office 365 online services, was the answer.

With this setup, the specialist can view and manipulate MRI images on the remote computer, use the camera to conduct an examination, and simultaneously discuss the observations with the patient and the remote physician. US Medical IT believes that many physicians can benefit from using cloud services, which offer cutting-edge security, increased uptime, and avoidance of costly hardware investments. It also believes that beyond the management and security benefits, medical practices can use cloud services to extend the boundaries of care beyond the office walls, and help physicians collaborate effectively on patient care.
 
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