Major medical institutions using Web Conferencing to share and advance research
In an initiative called HOPE, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital are using web conferencing to share information on AIDS and advance research around the world.
HOPE, which stands for HIV Online Provider Education, was created in 2004 to connect HIV clinicians from all over the world with the objective of exchanging ideas and advice and to create a platform of collaborative learning.
Doctors can log in easily and quickly, within 5 to 10 minutes, to share their findings on AIDS research with other colleagues on the other side of the world, said Rishabh Dev Phukan, HOPE’s program coordinator, to eWeek.
HOPE holds interactive conferences every two months in which are discussed HIV issues with attendants from Africa, China, India, Dominican Republic, the UK and the US. The conferences feature an expert which makes the topic presentation and then allows discussion between the several participants. Participants can also discuss particular cases between themselves and ask for the opinion of the clinicians present in the web conference.
Another HOPE initiative is the HIV Consult, which has several HIV clinicians providing online help and consultation to doctors with challenging cases or who are working in a limited resources setting.
The Harvard Center for AIDS Research and the Massachusetts General are also working with the McCord Hospital in South Africa using web conference to provide help and advice on AIDS treatment and specific cases.
RHUB TurboMeeting Appliance protects privacy
HOPE’s experience illustrates how web conferencing software can make a difference in medical and scientific research. allows doctors and researchers from all over the world to share their data and experience, discuss their ideas and get advice from experts, all done without leaving their institutions and wasting time.
RHUB has seen more medical clients in 2011. It is known that clinics and hospitals are especially concerned with patients’ privacy protection. When doctors hold , RHUB’s appliance-based solution could better ensure that all information is securely protected by medical institution’s own firewall. Compared to the hosted solutions, in which meeting or seminar information will be sheltered by the hosted servers, more hospitals are opting for appliance. RHUB’s dedicated appliance gives doctors the comfort of real-time privacy protection.