Remote Consultations

When receiving an unusual or life-threatening diagnosis, patients seek second opinions from medical specialists, to explore options, find answers and, often, simply want peace of mind.  Online second opinion programs can give patients access to the highest quality care without having to travel or wait weeks for an appointment with a specialist.  A specialist provides an opinion on a patient’s diagnosis or treatment plan, which the patient can then review with their local physician.  Remote consultations are also helping to improve patient care and ongoing education of local healthcare workers in remote areas of the world.

Center for Connected Health Models of Care

Show More

Partners Online Speciality Consultations

Partners Online Specialty Consultations (POSC) is a web-based application that enables consumers and their physicians to have “anytime, anywhere” access to the knowledge base of the 4000+ specialists located at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners/Dana Farber Cancer Care.

Operation Village Health

This program is aimed at bringing sustainable and quality health care to underserved populations in Cambodia.

Nantucket Dermatology Clinic

The interactive teledermatology practice at Nantucket Cottage Hospital on Nantucket Island and the ambulatory clinics at Massachusetts General Hospital provide patients on Nantucket Island with access to Harvard-affiliated dermatologists via interactive video conferencing.

Center for Connected Health Models of Care

Show More

Partners Online Speciality Consultations

Partners Online Specialty Consultations (POSC) is a web-based application that enables consumers and their physicians to have “anytime, anywhere” access to the knowledge base of the 4000+ specialists located at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners/Dana Farber Cancer Care.

Operation Village Health

This program is aimed at bringing sustainable and quality health care to underserved populations in Cambodia.

Research Materials & External Resources

Show More

Cancer diagnosis and telemedicine: a case study from Cambodia

This pilot project has demonstrated that telemedicine can have a positive impact on the public health of very remote communities in the developing world.

June 2006 | Kvedar J, Heinzelmann PJ, Jacques G

Telemedicine by email in remote Cambodia

The success of the pilot telemedicine programme confirms the value of email support for non-physician health-care workers in the developing world.

November 2005 | Heinzelmann PJ, Jacques G, Kvedar JC

Delivering health care in rural Cambodia via store-and-forward telemedicine: a pilot study

The authors concluded that store-and-forward e-mail consultative support for mobile nonphysician health care workers is a feasible model for delivering care in the developing world.

February 2005 | Brandling-Bennett HA, Kedar I, Pallin DJ, Jacques G, Gumley GJ, Kvedar JC.

Research Materials & External Resources

Show More

Cancer diagnosis and telemedicine: a case study from Cambodia

This pilot project has demonstrated that telemedicine can have a positive impact on the public health of very remote communities in the developing world.

June 2006 | Kvedar J, Heinzelmann PJ, Jacques G

Telemedicine by email in remote Cambodia

The success of the pilot telemedicine programme confirms the value of email support for non-physician health-care workers in the developing world.

November 2005 | Heinzelmann PJ, Jacques G, Kvedar JC

amphitheater small2008 Symposium - October 27-28, Boston, MA
Who Provides, Who Decides, Who Pays: Consumers, Clinicians & Business Models in the Connected Care Era  Click here to learn more

 

News & Articles Show More

E-mail used to help Iraq doctors treat patientsDoctors using telemedicine to treat patients in war-stricken and impoverished countries have become a more useful form of medical care than U.N. aid.
Thursday, August 14, 2008 | International Herald TribuneWhat's Up, Docs?Second opinions can provide a fresh perspective and new information so better medical decisions can be made. Top medical centers such as the Cleveland Clinic and Partner's Center for Connected Health, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, offer electronic second opinions.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | SignOnSanDiegoDigital diagnosis: Consultations get tech-savvy to save patients timeAfter more than four years in the mainstream in Florida and a few states, online doctor consultations are catching on, although not like many had hoped.
Monday, July 21, 2008 | South Florida Sun-Sentinel Online services let patients seek a second opinion from homePartners Online Specialty Consultations, a service provided by the Center for Connected Health, was featured in this article about patients turning to online services for second opinions from remote specialists.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | USA TodayPayer Supports Real-Time ConsultationsThe Hawaii Medical Service Association will offer real-time Web-based or telephone consultations with physician members of its provider network for its 700,000 covered members and all 1.3 million residents of the state.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | Health Data ManagementHawaii Service to Allow 24-Hour Online Patient-Doctor ConsultationsThe first-of-its-kind service will allow patients to consult online or by phone with a local physician or specialist in the Hawaii Medical Service Association network without an appointment. The service is expected to be secure, private and affordable.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | Honolulu Star-BulletinNew platform connects health plans, docs and patientsAmerican Well has introduced its Online Healthcare Marketplace, a platform that enables health plans to offer online care services to consumers and physicians, at AHIP Institute 2008 in San Francisco. It will allow physicians to review patient information, speak with and see the patients, prescribe medication and suggest follow-up care.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | Healthcare IT News

News & Articles Show Less

E-mail used to help Iraq doctors treat patientsDoctors using telemedicine to treat patients in war-stricken and impoverished countries have become a more useful form of medical care than U.N. aid.
Thursday, August 14, 2008 | International Herald TribuneWhat's Up, Docs?Second opinions can provide a fresh perspective and new information so better medical decisions can be made. Top medical centers such as the Cleveland Clinic and Partner's Center for Connected Health, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, offer electronic second opinions.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | SignOnSanDiegoDigital diagnosis: Consultations get tech-savvy to save patients timeAfter more than four years in the mainstream in Florida and a few states, online doctor consultations are catching on, although not like many had hoped.
Monday, July 21, 2008 | South Florida Sun-Sentinel Online services let patients seek a second opinion from homePartners Online Specialty Consultations, a service provided by the Center for Connected Health, was featured in this article about patients turning to online services for second opinions from remote specialists.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | USA TodayPayer Supports Real-Time ConsultationsThe Hawaii Medical Service Association will offer real-time Web-based or telephone consultations with physician members of its provider network for its 700,000 covered members and all 1.3 million residents of the state.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | Health Data ManagementHawaii Service to Allow 24-Hour Online Patient-Doctor ConsultationsThe first-of-its-kind service will allow patients to consult online or by phone with a local physician or specialist in the Hawaii Medical Service Association network without an appointment. The service is expected to be secure, private and affordable.
Friday, June 20, 2008 | Honolulu Star-BulletinNew platform connects health plans, docs and patientsAmerican Well has introduced its Online Healthcare Marketplace, a platform that enables health plans to offer online care services to consumers and physicians, at AHIP Institute 2008 in San Francisco. It will allow physicians to review patient information, speak with and see the patients, prescribe medication and suggest follow-up care.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | Healthcare IT NewsA second opinion, available from afarPhysicians from the Mayo Clinic have been offering second opinions or "virtual consults" to patients at SuperiorHealth Center, a clinic in Duluth, Minn.
Sunday, June 8, 2008 | Star TribuneDoctors to provide online consultations in war areas"iCons in Medicine" will link health professionals in war-torn areas of the world with specialized physicians who can provide consultations via the Internet.
Thursday, May 22, 2008 | Chicago TribuneTalking up a new role for cell phones in telemedicineAfter launching a communications revolution, cell phones are talking up a potentially life-saving new role in telemedicine — the use of telecommunications technology to provide medical diagnosis and patient care when doctors and patients are hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
Monday, May 5, 2008 | EurekAlertTelemedicine has a global reachResearchers in remote locations, rural patients and even prisoners benefit from telemedicine, which allows doctors to provide care from miles away.
Sunday, March 30, 2008 | Galveston Daily NewsGoing the distanceRural patients in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, are participating in a telemedicine program that provides clinical cancer services remotely via videoconferencing.
Thursday, March 6, 2008 | The TelegramVideo links to far-flung patients grow through UA programWith Arizona facing a physician shortage that's most severe in rural areas, the University of Arizona College of Medicine is using telemedicine to connect with patients and medical professionals who otherwise would have to travel hours for help.
Friday, February 15, 2008 | Tucson CitizenHalf of Americans don't get a second opinionTop medical centers such as Partners' Center for Connected Health offer second-opinion services via the Internet. This practice of consulting from afar using patients' medical records and test results is having a profound effect on how problems are treated.
Monday, February 4, 2008 | MSNBCWorld first as Scots hospital tests new online healthcare"Health Presence" will allow doctors to examine and diagnose the conditions of patients living hundreds of miles away – monitoring a patient's heartbeat, their temperature, blood pressure, and carrying out a number of detailed medical examinations.
Thursday, January 31, 2008 | The ScotsmanTelemedicine in the TropicsAMD Telemedicine supplies equipment and training for Bahamian Telemedicine Pilot Project.
Monday, January 7, 2008 | AMD TelemedicinePayers Embrace Online ConsultsHealth insurers Aetna Inc. and CIGNA HealthCare will offer reimbursement of online patient-physician consultations using the webVisit software of the RelayHealth unit of McKesson Corp., San Francisco.
Thursday, December 20, 2007 | Health Data ManagementFCC Launches Initiative to Increase Access to Health Care in Rural America Through Broadband TelehealthMonday, November 19, 2007 | Federal Communications CommissionCambodia Project Taps Telehealth Technology To Boost CareUsing basic technology and the expertise of volunteer U.S. physicians, Operation Village Health has boosted the access to and quality of care delivered to patients in Cambodia, as well as educating physicians in both countries.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | iHealthBeatExtending Medical Expertise via Connected HealthOnline programs that take advantage of the evolving “patient-centric” system of health care are finding fulfilled physicians and grateful patients.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 | Most Wired OnlineMedical Board chief touts role of technologyTuesday, May 29, 2007 | SignOnSanDiegoOnline Visits a Boon for Far-Off PatientsConsultations with doctors over the Internet is making healthcare much more attainable and affordable for patients in remote areas.
Sunday, May 27, 2007 | San Francisco ChronicleE-medicine Links Cambodian Villages to BostonResidents of two remote Cambodian villages now have access to HMS-affiliated hospitals and physicians—and the expertise and experience that go with them—without the use of airline tickets or visas.
Friday, May 18, 2007 | Harvard FocusDesign for the Other 90%Operation Village Health is featured as part of the new exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian
Friday, May 4, 2007 | Cooper-Hewitt National Design MuseumTelemedicine: Healthcare Goes AnywhereFrom Alaska to Texas, telemedicine programs reach out to patients who have limited access to vital services.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 | For The Record
 

Newsletter Signup

Go