IT platform support for Telemedicine practice [edited subject]

[Elysium]

I am seeking help on finding how to go about setting up IT platform support with camera and HIPAA compliance for Telemedicine practice. A family member is planning to start the practice and asked about advice on how to go about getting IT system support. They are starting a practice to work with couple of hospitals and do not have insights into IT side. I am on the IT side but do not have any exposure into medical field. I am hoping with so many MDs here someone will be able to help.

[daveydoo]

I would start with biggest hospital -- most have telemedicine infrastructure already or are just about to implement it. You would need to ensure compatibility. Also, if this is just a video chat, then no big deal (I mean, it's about as "telemedicine" as a phone call). But if it real telemedicine, then there is generally some patient-side technology that enables physical exam, vitals recording and transmitting, etc. In these instances, the provider-side interface is specific to the patient-side hardware, AFAIK.

[Elysium]

If this is only video chat to see the patients and chat then is it just a matter of having camera with encryption and HIPAA compliance. I am also wondering if there is any recording involved and some compliance and security requirements around that. I don't know the details yet, and not sure which one is it, but my guess is it's not involving patient side technology. Wouldn't there be some standard technology providers for this type of use case.

[atomicrc11]

Here is one that I am aware of: https://doxy.me

It offers free video chat but there are higher tiers that you can pay for that lets you record sessions, screen share, accept payments, etc.

[BolderBoy]

Timothy Buchman, MD PhD, at Emory University (Atlanta) heads up an innovative, critical care, telemedicine program that is transnational in scope. His group has worked out many of the bugs and may have published a lot of their grunt work.