Doctors and patients may not know a lot about Cisco. But that could change as the technology vendor debuts a platform aimed at the home telehealth market.
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Billing it as a "browser-based … collaboration solution" that enables the consumer to connect with physicians and other members of the care team via mobile devices from the home, office or anywhere in between, Cisco unveiled Extended Care platform.
It's a new direction for the company, which has struggled in recent months to keep its foothold in a market where hospitals are moving away from complicated, high-priced technology platforms and looking for turnkey solutions.
"The goal for Extended Care is really to initiate patient engagement … which is where we think healthcare costs can and will decrease and well-being will increase,” David Plummer, general manager of Cisco's Care-at-a-Distance Solutions, told mHealth News.
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To that end, Extended Care runs on a platform that allows ad hoc and scheduled video consults, secure messaging, customizable pre-appointment questionnaires, a video library and the ability to capture readings from mobile devices. In addition, the solution offers open application programming interfaces (APIs), enabling users to integrate with other third-party applications and environments.
Plummer says Extended Care is being marketed to large healthcare providers and corporate healthcare clinic providers, while some home health agencies and a large pharmacy chain have shown interest as well. In beta tests of the product over the past six months, he said, customers have reported faster and more convenient access to care and better patient satisfaction rates.
"We've actually had people say they feel they have a better relationship with their care providers," Plummer added.
That the company is venturing into promising new territory shouldn't come as a surprise. Cisco executives last month announced disappointing results for the third quarter, prompting stock shares to drop another 12 percent (overall, the company's shares are up 7 percent on the year). Analysts have said the company's future doesn't look promising, as stock prices have remained the same while the company has doubled in size since 2001.
With that in mind, the development of a collaboration product that engages providers and patients seems like a logical next step.
According to a recent Cisco survey, nearly 80 percent of respondents said they were open to sharing medical information online, and the majority of consumers said they'd be comfortable with the idea of communicating with their doctors online, as opposed to visiting the doctor's office.
"There's certainly a growing interest in patient engagement and personalized care," said Plummer. Cisco Extended Care, he said, "is an extended video collaboration platform (that can) answer a lot of those questions and drive patient health and wellness."
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