REACH Health launches enhanced telemedicine clinical platform

May 2 2012

REACH Health, Inc., a leading provider of telemedicine technology solutions for health systems, today announced the launch of its enhanced telemedicine clinical platform, REACH Access™. The software supports virtual multidisciplinary, collaborative care and is easily configured to accommodate all medical specialties.    

The REACH cloud-based platform was originally developed to provide urgent care for stroke victims, delivering neurological assessment and treatment in situations where any delay could slow recovery, intensify long-term effects or increase morbidity. REACH Access now extends these telemedicine benefits to other disciplines and clinical protocols.

"Having realized the tremendous benefits our facilities have received through providing telemedicine stoke care to our patients for years, expanding our telemedicine service line to include specialties beyond stroke with the new REACH Access platform has been instrumental in our hospital's strategic care initiatives," said Lynnette McCall, RN, stroke network coordinator at St. Joseph's/Candler. "It is an intuitive product that allows us to extend beyond our hospital walls to care for the larger community, and we were delighted to be one of the first to utilize the technology."

The introduction of REACH Access comes at a time when healthcare is seeking innovative solutions to address the competing priorities of improving patient outcomes, increasing access to physician specialists and reducing costs. The industry is rapidly turning to technology solutions like telemedicine to deliver superior care to patients in a cost-effective manner. Healthcare leaders likewise recognize the strategic value telemedicine offers in strengthening referral networks, effectively and efficiently leveraging resources, and demonstrating leadership in patient care.

"Time is of the essence for patients in need of urgent care," says Richard Otto, president and CEO at REACH Health. "REACH has enabled thousands of stroke patients to receive the specialized care they need, removing critical time and distance barriers. REACH Access leverages our knowledge and experience in telemedicine to support a broad set of diagnostic and treatment protocols, bringing multispecialty physician care to all patients regardless of their medical needs or location."

REACH Access was developed in collaboration with leading physicians, and offers an intuitive interface with full electronic clinical documentation functionality. Its multidisciplinary solutions benefit numerous clinical environments, including emergency departments, ICUs, and other patient care locations. REACH Access addresses the needs for specialized remote assessment of neurology, pulmonology, cardiology, psychiatry and other clinical specialties and sub-specialties.

Now available for implementation, exclusive features of REACH Access include:

• Multiparty telepresence (video/audio conference) that supports multidisciplinary collaborative care;
• Remotely controlled point-of-care camera;
• Clinical workflow process that supports traditional physician/patient encounters;
• Discipline/protocol-specific presentation of patient related clinical information, such as vital signs, lab results, physical assessments, history, among others;
• Template-based electronic, clinical documentation and consult reports;
• Flexible, decision support tools that use generally accepted and evidenced-based warning criteria; and
• Physician-access portal providing consulting physicians easy access from any Internet-connected computer, with no additional hardware required.

Source: REACH Health