UIC College of Medicine contracts with Astound for Virtual Specialist

Brings Specialists to the Point-of-Care— Electronically

 

BriefingWire.com, 9/22/2010 - Walnut Creek, CA, Astound Technologies announced an agreement with the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine (COM) to implement the Virtual Specialist™, a solution enabling live 2-way video communication between patients, doctors and specialists over existing PCs. Designed to dramatically improve care, lower cost, save time and eliminate travel, the Virtual Specialist will link COM specialists to university students ultimately extending to hospitals and medical locations throughout the state.

Clicking an icon on a point-of-care PC establishes live video links between patient, their doctor or caregiver, and the medical specialist wherever they are located.

“We were looking for a solution that would automatically distribute video conferencing calls and work with our Microsoft Office Communicator Server. It had to track and hold calls in queue, place video calls on hold, transfer and conference in other participants in order to integrate videoconferencing technology into the existing clinical work flow for UIC patient services,” stated Dr. Wesley Valdes, Medical Director of UCI Telehealth.

“Unexpected bonuses we got from Astound were: expertise in computer telephony integration, voice processing and interactive voice response systems, understanding of the challenges surrounding automatic video call distribution, the ability to manage complex directory systems, capability in online multimedia production and overall familiarity with healthcare processes” continued Dr. Valdes.

“We are excited to be working with Dr. Valdes and the prestigious University of Illinois College of Medicine on this groundbreaking project in medical communication and collaboration. Our Virtual Specialist will find medical specialists anywhere/anytime and establish videoconferences with patients, caregivers, and other specialists instantly. No scheduling or special conference rooms are required and the price barrier of traditional videoconferencing systems is a thing of the past. Plus, by leveraging the capabilities of Microsoft’s Office Communication Services (OCS), UIC increases the value of their technology investment”, said Jack L. Gaither, CEO of Astound Technologies.

About the University of Illinois College of Medicine

Recognized as one of the country’s best medical schools, the College of Medicine is also the nation’s largest. Its diverse student body of 2,600 students hails from a wide variety of cultural and economic backgrounds. The College’s four campuses—located in Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and Urbana — take advantage of the state’s urban and rural environments and offer numerous opportunities for clinical training and research. The distinguished faculty contributes to the college’s reputation as one of the best schools for both undergraduate and graduate medical education.

About Astound Technologies

Astound Technologies, LLC of Walnut Creek, CA, has over 30+ years of computer software development, telephony integration (CTI) and video communication experience and is always at the forefront of emerging communication technology. Drawing upon its multi-facetted skills Astound has developed the Virtual Specialist, a software video ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) that switches and connects video collaboration calls from the point-of-care to specialists.