L.A. clinic to provide cardiac telemedicine

February 04, 2011 | Bernie Monegain, Editor

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LOS ANGELES – The Saban Free Clinic and school health centers will provide electrocardiogram (ECG) telemedicine and CardioGramKids services to the four community clinics and school health centers it operates.

Now in its 43rd year, the Saban Free Clinic (formerly the Los Angeles Free Clinic) provides nearly 90,000 patient visits annually to the uninsured, teens and other vulnerable populations in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Saban Free Clinic tapped CompuMed, a telemedicine and medical informatives company, to provide it with ECG telemedicine equipment and with over-reads performed remotely by CompuMed's cardiologists and pediatric cardiologists.

CompuMed will also provide The Saban Free Clinic with the company's CardioGramKids Pediatric Screening services at the school health center the clinic operates for the Los Angeles Unified School District at Hollywood High School.

CompuMed's CardioGramKids program was designed in tandem with pediatricians and other healthcare providers to provide ECG screening services to children and teenagers prior to taking psychotropic medications or participating in school or after school sports programs.

Donzella Lee, director of operations at The Saban Free Clinic, said the technology and services would significantly boost the clinic's ability to provide preventive cardiac health services.

"We are pleased to be working with L.A.'s preeminent community clinic organization to enhance the delivery of preventive medicine to the children and adults of Los Angeles," said CompuMed's lead cardiologist David M. Frisch, MD. "By implementing CompuMed's ECG telemedicine program systemwide, the Saban Free Clinic is likely to prevent or minimize a large number of acute or long-term cardiac problems and save lives."

"With the extension of our ECG telemedicine and CardioGramKids school health center programs into the major community clinic organizations, CompuMed continues to play a leading role in bringing ECG telemedicine to a wide variety of healthcare settings," said CompuMed CEO Maurizio Vecchione. "It's clear that the future of healthcare will rely heavily on the Internet and that companies in the telemedicine field like CompuMed are well positioned to prosper."

Los Angeles-based CompuMed, develops and markets products and services that combine advanced imaging with medical informatics. Its focus is on analysis and remote monitoring for patients with cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases.