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Cruise
line, UTMB team up for telemedicine
From
staff reports
The Daily News
Published
July 08, 2002
GALVESTON
— Passengers cruising on two Holland America Line
ships will soon have the option to be treated by specialists
at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Austin-based Carpe eDatum, Ship-Rad Services of Vancouver,
British Columbia, and UTMB inked a deal with the cruise line
to install tele-medicine equipment aboard the Amsterdam and
Zuiderdam.
The deal is unique in that it allows the entire transaction
to take place through a single source, said UTMB’s Scott
Hermstein.
“UTMB and Carpe eDatum have entered into a non-exclusive
tele-medicine teaming agreement which will allow us to
provide an end-to-end solution for customers looking for a
tele-medicine product,” said Hermstein. “UTMB provides
the medical services, and Carpe eDatum provides the
hardware-software technology integration. Currently
telemedicine customers typically deal with the two
components separately.”
Ship-Rad services will handle distribution under the
agreement.
“The current process aboard the ships’ infirmaries is
cumbersome and time consuming, utilizing film and paper
reports,” said Sally van Boheemen, Holland America’s
manager of marine medical services. “Without the clinical
image management system, it would be virtually impossible to
provide our doctors and passengers with the diagnostic
expertise that will be gained by immediate consultation with
UTMB staff radiologists.”
Digitized X-rays from the ships’ infirmaries will be
transmitted via an Internet satellite link to UTMB.
Radiologists will read the images from viewers and dictate
results directly into the computer application. The
dictation will then be transcribed from the radiology
department and transmitted back to the ships’ infirmaries
for review by the ships’ doctors.
Physicians will be able to use a feature called CD exam
writer, which creates a single patient record on CD with
associated images for the passenger to take with them when
they return to their personal physician.
The process provides same-day results, although readings can
be returned in about one hour in emergencies.
Through the teaming agreement, Carpe eDatum provided UTMB a
license agreement, software, installation and
software-hardware support valued by Carpe eDatum at more
than $250,000, Hermstein said.
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