- HILLSIDE, NJ-- Glowpoint and MMC Worldwide (MMCW), a provider of high-quality video production and post-production services for global healthcare and education communities, today announced an agreement to offer enhanced video solutions to the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
- The multi-year engagement will combine MMCW’s recently achieved Polycom certification and distribution status with Glowpoint’s managed services and global video exchange service, called the Telepresence interExchange Network (“TEN’), to deliver a complete turn-key solution for doctors and hospitals worldwide. The solution will provide telepresence and video conferencing interconnectivity to the global medical community, with ease of access from anywhere in the world.
- In addition, the partnership plans to support MMCW’s chosen charity, Medical Missions for Children, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on providing diagnostic and treatment consultations for critically-ill children in 108 countries around the world. Glowpoint and MMCW will enhance the services of Medical Missions for Children’s global TV station, the Medical Broadcasting Channel, which broadcasts medical symposia and educational programs to 300,000 healthcare institutions worldwide via satellite and Internet technologies. Medical Missions for Children owns and operates a high-definition video production facility – the MMC-Panasonic HDTV Studios – and the Giggles Children’s Theater, both of which are located at Medical Missions for Children’s Charitable Headquarters on the campus of St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, NJ.
- According to MMCW President John Riehl, “By combining MMCW's Polycom technologies with Glowpoint’s managed and exchange services, this partnership has the potential to greatly enhance the quality and cost benefits of remote training, and knowledge sharing, within the global medical community.” Medical Missions for Children has already improved outcomes for more than 35,000 children, through its Telemedicine Outreach Program, and continues to improve the practice of medicine through greater collaboration between doctors trained in the U.S. and healthcare practitioners trained in the developing world.
- Glowpoint President and Co-CEO Joseph Laezza added, “Telepresence and video conferencing can dramatically improve medical training and knowledge sharing for doctors and healthcare institutions, in addition to governmental ministries of health. Glowpoint is proud to be in a position to offer the technology, video transport, management, and interorganizational services that can greatly enhance the way medicine is practiced around the globe.”
- Specific benefits to organizations that use video telemedicine applications include:
- Greater access to medical expertise
- Greater efficiencies in diagnosis
- Overall reduced costs for care
- Increased frequency of patient/physician contact
- Shorter hospital stays for patients
- Reduced rates of hospitalization
- Improved internal staff communications, collaboration, and productivity
- Improved training and certification for healthcare professionals
- According to market-research firm Datamonitor, the U.S. telemedicine market is expected to grow to more than $6 billion by 2012 from $900 million in 2007.
- Further details will be announced in the coming weeks regarding plans to provide exclusive offerings, and a simple registration process, to medical organizations who want to become a part of the TEN global exchange.
