Sometimes technology changes everything.

Of course, most innovations make some difference to our lives, but now and again they genuinely transform.

Nowhere is that more at play than in the healthcare sector.

Here, smart video is helping to solve a global crisis of demand exceeding supply.

Too many patients, insufficient numbers of specialist doctors, constant pressure on healthcare systems’ finances – ergo: huge (and growing) treatment waiting lists and rising diagnoses of life-limiting illnesses such as terminal cancer and heart disease.

However, the power of video conferencing is fuelling a new response – connected health – which is enabling healthcare specialists to work more effectively by carrying out remote examinations, consultations, diagnoses and even treatment.

In many cases, healthcare assistants closely-supported via video link by specialist doctors, are able to carry out minor clinical procedures and examinations that were once outside of their remit; effectively multiplying several-fold the number of patients that can be treated more rapidly.

Crucially, for populations in under-resourced areas of the world, the same technology is enabling a single specialist doctor to provide care for multiple, far-flung patients without the need to travel to their location.

International healthcare systems of course vary hugely by model, with some, such as the UK’s National Health Service, being government-funded and free at the point of demand, and others, such as in the US, being funded via citizens’ paid-for insurance.

However, no matter what the financial model, huge opportunities now exist for technology service partners to benefit from this expanding market.

Choosing a provider that is already leading the way is key.

“We have been supplying video cameras to teaching hospitals for over 10 years that have traditionally enabled the live broadcast of surgical procedures in operating theatres to students watching in neighbouring rooms – now, post-pandemic, that same technology is transforming modern healthcare forever,” says Rene Buhay, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing (Europe) at leading video conferencing solution provider Aver, whose MD330 medical-grade camera is at the leading edge of that innovation.

“In simple terms, we are adapting and evolving those same cameras by adding detachable lenses in order that they can be used in different ways. They no longer have to be fixed in a static position overhead in an operating theatre. Now they are fully-mobile and able to broadcast imagery from wherever they are deployed, such as wards, clinics, consulting rooms, remote community health centres.

“Also, they are being used by healthcare assistants and nurses in examinations and procedures; filming, for example, in a patient’s ear or mouth, in order to relay that imagery to a specialist doctor who may be many miles away.

“It means that one specialist doctor can carry out multiple consultations from one location more effectively and efficiently than ever before. And it means that that expert but scarce human resource, plus the ever-tightening budgets that always apply to healthcare, can be helped to work harder than ever before.

“This is what technology has always done best – evolving and adapting in ways which improve the lives of us all.”

In Aver’s case in particular, that transformative process is a product of 32 years of in-house innovation, design and manufacture – supported today by a super-skilled team of engineers for whom the quality of the reseller partner and end-user experience is an obsession.

Those in-house teams are able to customise those user experiences by remotely manipulating firmware, changing settings and turning features on and off in line with customers’ specific requirements.

They are already working on next-level innovation which will enable the connection to and seamless integration of video technology to individual hospitals’ internal tech stacks: leveraging the power of AI to drive yet further efficiencies.

“We are essentially a tech company; and our knowledge and experience sets us apart from other video conferencing solution providers,” says Buhay.

“The fact that we innovate, design, manufacture and support in-house adds huge value to our proposition, not only for our end users but for our reseller partners too.

“Connected health will continue to evolve and demand for the benefits it brings will continue to rise. Globally, the opportunities are significant and we believe passionately that we have the vision and the expertise to help all stakeholders capitalize.”

To learn more about how Aver can help healthcare organizations and their technology partners leverage the transformational power of its smart video solutions, visit Aver.



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