Viasat Internet helps millions of people work, shop, and communicate with loved ones online. 现在, it’s also bringing life-saving telehealth to communities around the world in hard-to-reach locations.
与远程医疗专家合作 19实验室, Viasat Internet links residents of these communities with doctors and medical staff — eliminating the need for residents to travel vast distances to seek health care. The telehealth service not only gives patients needed care, 它为病人节省了时间和金钱, 医疗服务提供者, 地方政府.
“这确实改变了这些社区的生活,克雷格·努南说, senior executive consultant of Viasat’s Global Telehealth Services. “这对每个人来说都是一场胜利. We’re leveraging technology to not only make lives better, but doing so at lower cost.”
19实验室 uses cellular networks to connect patients with health care providers. But cellular networks don’t extend to some of the most remote, 需要的位置, and that’s where Viasat’s satellite internet plays a vital role.
“Particularly in mountainous and highly remote areas — which are home to at least 10% of the population — satellite gives us the reliable connectivity we need,努南说.
到目前为止, Viasat is providing internet to six clinics in Oaxaca, 墨西哥和夏威夷的莫洛凯岛. In Oaxaca, the minister of health is working with Noonan and 19实验室 to add more clinics in 2022.
“我们在五个不同的国家进行了试点, 我们的目标是在全世界推广,努南说. “ViaSat-3 will be instrumental in those plans; it will give us affordable connectivity to serve those areas.”
ViaSat-3 is a constellation of three satellites that are designed to combine to cover the globe. 三颗卫星中的第一颗预计将很快发射.
根据世界卫生组织的数据，这个数字高达3.50亿人—— half the world’s population – don’t receive the health services 他们需要. 至少有8亿人消费 10%的家庭预算用于医疗费用 为自己, 生病的孩子, or other family member — expenditures that send 100 million of those people into extreme poverty.
它是如何工作的
虽然这是填补医疗缺口的有效方法, the telehealth experience is much more than just a videocall. The 19实验室 platform provides the full clinical experience for both the patient and doctor by integrating diagnostic devices and vital information in real-time during the consult.
诊所地点是精心挑选的, often established in community centers or other central sites to which people can often walk or drive a short distance. 为这些农村社区服务, 目前，医生们会亲自前往这些地点, 每个月在诊所轮岗一次. 通过增加连接和19实验室 eClinic, nurses or trained community members are on site to assess patients and facilitate the online consultation with doctors and specialists.
“The platform connects patients with doctors but also allows doctors to monitor vital signs in real time,努南说. “We’re splitting the doctor away from the location physically, but giving them all the needed tools and all the data. Patients in need of specialized care can also be connected to specialist via the platform.”
当然，连通性是关键.
“Viasat is integral to this solution because connectivity makes all of this possible,努南说. “The key to implementing telemedicine is to have stable, reliable connectivity with enough speed to deliver video.”
在服务不足的社区, the remote option also means patients don’t have to wait for a doctor to visit their clinic.
Oaxaca has the highest pregnancy complication and infant mortality rate in 墨西哥. The eClinics help by providing patients with critical in-depth prenatal and post-delivery exams. 使用超声波, 收缩的监控, 血液检测, 临床医生可以确定压力水平, 条件变化, 通过远程医疗解决其他问题. 如果检测到问题, the advance testing creates enough lead time to transport the patient for escalated care. Post-delivery infant checkups are also made with regularity, and vital health information is tracked on a regular basis.
“在我们的系统中, the nurse or health aide can provide basic care for the patients, and they can also connect for general medicine or elevate to specialists via telemedicine anytime during the week,努南说. “We’re increasing both reach and frequency of health care.”
Noonan said telehealth closes gaps created by two shortages: One in people and the other in funding.
Adding telehealth has the advantage of elevating a community’s poverty score, which is in part determined by access to health care. But while Noonan says the improvement in those numbers is gratifying, his satisfaction comes in seeing the effect on those who need the service.
“When we speak with people about the system, they light up,” he said. “They know they’re missing this, and immediately embrace it and understand the power of it.
“这项工作令人兴奋和满意. But the impact we have on lives and communities is paramount.”