Video Technology, Medicine Bring Help to Needy Children

A unique partnership between Medical Missions for Children (MMC) and Polycom, Inc. that bridges children's medical needs between medical facilities worldwide marked its eighth anniversary, according to a statement released today on PRNewswire by Polycom.

MMC is a non-profit group that serves the needs of catastrophically ill youngsters in the United States and more than 100 other countries. Polycom is a provider of video equipment and technology. The two groups' partnership allows doctors in the United States and Europe to use video technology to help physicians share vital medical information.

For example, Polycom and MMC used a high-speed, high-definition video network between St. Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Paterson, NJ, in which the two facilities shared pediatric cancer research. St. Jude's physicians shared cancer treatment information with St. Joseph's. By using video, officials from both medical centers could diagnose and discuss treatment procedures via remote, according to Polycom's statement.

"The partnership and support we receive from Polycom is one of the most important and effective relationships we've had with any organization," Frank Brady, founder of MMC, told Polycom.

Polycom provides the hardware and "telemedicine" network expertise and MMC supplies the medical know-how. With a video network that employs Polycom equipment and video, MMC installed so-called video rooms in the top European and U.S. hospitals. In all, 27 hospitals benefited from having video rooms installed, including Johns Hopkins, Mount Sinai and St. Jude's. An estimated 650 doctors are using the technology to share information.

This cutting-edge technology in effect has revolutionized how physicians work together from great distances. In fact, the use of high-definition video has bridged those distances by removing the miles and connecting a U.S. physician, for example, with a doctor in a remote part of the world, Polycom officials said.