I use GoToMeeting many times a day and wanted to share a few examples of why this has made such a difference for myself, my colleagues and others we interact with:
A woman was due to deliver her first baby, but her husband was stationed overseas in the military. We knew from testing that he would have somewhat unpredictable availability and access to the internet, with uncertain bandwidth or device options. We were not sure if he might need to use the phone for sound at the last minute. And with the military we could not run the risk that he might be restricted to having any software “install” itself on whatever computer he might use. Because of the sensitivity of the event, we also wanted to have a special meeting link scheduled to send to him, that he or his wife might choose to send to others. In addition, we knew he might be online for many hours, but that during this time due to wind storms or weather his “connection” might vary as well. We setup a special GoToMeeting session link and he stayed on for 10 hours, participating without interruption in the entire event, and then taking online photos after the baby was born.
Frequently I encourage my colleagues to obtain second opinions from academic centers or subspecialty experts in real time, to avoid unnecessary transfers of patients, to bring the “expertise” right to the bedside and to reassure families that we are getting the input of others as effectively as possible during the most critical points in decision-making. It is fairly common that those experts are in university or hospital settings that have limitations on what can be installed on a computer, or that they might have suboptimal sound setups and need to use phone at last minute..but also there is a strong need to have very dynamic screen sharing, handing over controls, etc…so that the remote expert can scroll through a medical record or imaging system along with us in real time more efficiently. GoToMeeting is phenomenally effective for this, and works 100% of the time, regardless of where someone is located.
Complex cases also involve the need to engage families in discussions. The family often arrives to a hospital much later than the specialist does a consult, or there are key members not able to travel on short notice. In addition, sometimes family members are sick and not supposed to visit a hospital. In the outpatient setting, it is not uncommon for a family member to be working or stuck at home, while a loved one is at a doctors office for visit, procedure, tests. Knowing that with minimal preparation (other than assuring someone has an email address and is willing to click on a link to find out what webcam to get for $40!!)..I/we can rapidly get multiple others to drop into a secure screen-sharing video session, again with phone call-in option for any sound issues…is a huge efficiency and helps us engage families to “get everyone on the same page”. This is also a great way to get more immediate online informed consent.
Patients who leave the hospital often go to rehab centers where there is a discontinuity of care between the inpatient to outpatient environment. To be able to know that someone can bring a laptop (if no other mobile device available) to a rehab center (a clinician, staff, care manager, family) and easily participate in a session that might combine video chat with sharing of screens to review discharge notes or recent labs done on either end..is very practical and reassuring.
It is also common that a patient shows up in another doctors office (or any allied health professionals practice) with a CD that has images from an MRI or CT they had done at another radiology facility. Or they might have printed copies of a discharge summary from an ER. The ability to have that person go up to any computer, open their email to view a hyperlink we send them, connect into a secure meeting and enable one of us to view their screen, have them put the CD in the tray and let us review the images with them, have them hold up a document we can clearly read with them, (even a medication list hand written)…and know that this will ALWAYS work regardless of where they are…is a huge efficiency and everyone has told me they would pay directly for that experience (for those who worry that insurance companies dont plan to reimburse for this type of important collboration time online)
