Cisco + Samsung, innovating healthcare

Re-imagining healthcare

The healthcare landscape is changing faster than ever before, and the industry is looking towards the return to a new normal for patient care. Daily tasks of our international healthcare heroes, have become hazardous and very involved, requiring extreme working hours and costly protective gear.  

Hospitals are constantly looking for new ways to physically distance their staff from patients in order to minimize the spread of virus and the risk of being exposed within care facilities. Ultimately, facilities affected by the shortage of protective gear need to turn to new and creative solutions that will help reduce the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks, or gloves, yet still provide personal care for patients at an increased volume.  

For patients being treated at these facilities, many are experiencing lonely and isolating times, as interaction with staff have become strictly minimal and, more importantly, families are prohibited from visiting.  

Connecting with technology 

At Cisco, we take “connections” very seriously, even beyond our network. Keeping humans connected is in our DNA. With this in mind, we have recently joined forces with Samsung to develop a zero-touch solution that will allow facilities to continue caring for their patients, while keeping staff safe and families connected. Cisco collaboration has brought together Cisco Webex Teams™ and Samsung Knox Configure on the Galaxy Tab Active2 tablets, to enable clinical staff to conduct virtual consultations and daily virtual rounds with the patients at their facilities.  

The solution features the use of Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 tablets (managed by the Knox Configure tool) in examination (consultation) and patient observation rooms. The Samsung devices run a custom version of Webex Teams in kiosk mode, allowing the patient to connect over video with their care givers (and families) without having to touch the tablet in any way.  

Virtual Consultations  

For virtual consultations, patients showing up for an evaluation at healthcare facilities  can wait at a fixed or mobile station with a mounted Samsung Tab Active2 running Webex Teams. Once the caregiver is ready for the consultation, they can open Webex Teams on their personal device, navigate to the “space” dedicated to that virtual consultation room, and start the call. At this point, the Samsung device on the patient side will ring for 5 seconds and join the video call automatically. The other clinical staff that are also part of that space will be able to join the ongoing consultation and interact with the patient as well, keeping the consultations dynamic and collaborative.  

Keeping Families Connected 

If the patient is admitted for observation (and quarantine) at the facility, the clinical staff will be able to keep a line of communication with the patient’s family by messaging over a Webex Teams. This way they’ll be able to keep them informed on when it’s time for the patient’s virtual check–in.   

Virtual Rounds  

Much like standard physical check-ins, clinical staff can perform daily rounds on their floors by dialing the Webex Teams space associated to the patient’s room. During their virtual consultation via the Samsung device, the care giver can invite family members to the video call, creating an instant and seamless connection to their loved one. 

 “Samsung has partnered with Cisco to jointly develop a solution to help medical institutions safely provide care during the current public health crisis. Samsung is pleased to have  our technology help bridge the distancing measures now pervasive in hospitals so that patients can safely connect with their families and their healthcare providers. – Taher Behbehani, General Manager and Head of Mobile B2B, Samsung Electronics America 

Learn How to Connect 

We’ve created tailored documentation that will help all those involved set up and use this solution.  

Visit the solution site to learn more and get started by registering for a Webex Teams trial and a Samsung Knox trial  

If you are a large healthcare facility and need help discovering what solution fits your needs, contact your Cisco account manager, partner or your Samsung account manager to get information regarding Samsung Tab Active2 tablets, Knox Configure, or Webex Teams.  

For information on Cisco Webex and HIPAA compliance, see Protecting Your Webex Healthcare Data.

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