ENGLAND – The UK’s National Health Service plans to leverage IOCOM technology in its East of England telemedicine project to improve care for stroke patients.

Video conferencing technology from IOCOM, based in Chicago, will be used to give stroke patients round-the-clock access to expert stroke physicians around England.

NHS officials said getting care to stroke patients in a timely fashion is critical. They said hospital emergency departments will be linked with specialist stroke consultants who can use the video and audio conferencing technology to see and speak to patients as well as read CT scans and other tests results.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to use technology to improve our ability to serve patients, and it’s quite rewarding when a program has such a significant effect on their lives,” said Phil Lowe, information management and technology project manager for the East of England SHA Stroke Pilot Project. “This project ... has already saved two lives in the first few weeks. ... The impact across the entire area will be remarkable.”

The NHS' pilot program leveraged IOCOM software with a computer on wheels (COW), which houses a fixed video camera and audio link. TConsultants use specially equipped laptops that automatically launch the IOCOM video conferencing technology and enable them to securely read CT images without having to access the hospitals’ systems.