Innovative Program Trains Nurses & Physical Therapists for Telehealth Visits Using VSee

American International College (AIC) in Springfield, MA uses VSee telemedicine technology as part of an innovative academic program that trains nursing, physical therapy and occupational therapy students to conduct telehealth visits. In the telehealth model patients and care providers are at a distance, which, among other benefits, helps expand access to high quality medical attention for homebound and geographically isolated patients.

The project initially developed using the technology infrastructure from a simulation lab that has been in use at AIC to provide simulated patient care to interactive mannequins under faculty supervision. Expanding this lab to include a telehealth component demanded a high quality video teleconferencing system that was also HIPAA compliant. AIC selected VSee from a lineup of solutions, including Microsoft Lync and Vidyo, both for its technical features and superior usability.

In particular, the OneClick Waiting Room allows students and faculty to shift the focus away from the technology to learning about providing the best patient-centered care. Within seconds students and instructors are able to practice key skills via an Internet video connection such as taking a patient history, performing an examination and providing treatment protocols.

AIC Manager of Academic Computing, Jeremy Anderson notes, “We’re always on the lookout for easy-to-use technology that won’t get in the way of learning and teaching.  VSee’s waiting room and one-click simplicity really fit the bill as we looked into telehealth conferencing tools.”

VSee also stands out by providing our courses high definition call quality with low bandwidth usage. These qualities are vital to enabling AIC’s student clinicians to gather the best quality patient data from a distance. That the service works equally well with wired and WiFi connections also improves the flexibility of where a patient can be located and how they join the telehealth call. This allows for maximum usage of limited space, a challenge that many campuses face.