The Computerworld Honors Program
Honoring those who use Information Technology to benefit society
LOCATION:
Paterson, NJ, US

YEAR:
2007

STATUS:
Laureate

CATEGORY:
Non-Profit Organizations

NOMINATING COMPANY:
Polycom

ORGANIZATION:
Medical Missions for Children

PROJECT NAME:
Transferring Medical Knowledge From Those Who Have It to Those Who Need It Using Technology

Short Summary
The mission of Medical Mission for Children (MMC) is to transfer medical knowledge from those who have it to those who need it using the latest in communications technology. The world is in the midst of a silent revolution in the field of medicine. New discoveries and scientific breakthroughs are occurring more rapidly than ever, and many experts are forecasting that medical knowledge will effectively double over the next five years. To maximize the impact of this increase in knowledge, MMC is constantly working to develop new and innovative ways to transfer this information from its point of origin to the front lines of medicine. By facilitating this transfer of medical knowledge, the organization expects to improve the medical outcomes of millions of people each year.

MMC is a four-star, multiple-award winning charity located at St. Joseph ’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson , NJ. It operates a distance medicine network in more than 100 countries called the Global Telemedicine Teaching Network, a global satellite and IP TV network called the Medical Broadcasting Channel, the Global Video Library of Medicine, and Giggles Children’s Theater – Where Laughter is the Best Medicine.

MMC has directly affected the lives of thousands of children living in medically underserved nations and indirectly helps millions more by speeding the transfer of medical knowledge.


Introductory Overview
The statistics on the plight of children in medically underserved countries are staggering. In poor nations, children under five years of age bear 30 percent of the total burden of disease. Of the 11 million children under five years of age who die each year, more than 85 percent are from medically underserved countries. This translates to 40,000 children dying each day. And, according to the World Health Organization, in most hospitals in underserved communities the pediatric death rate ranges between 20 to 50 percent, compared to just 2 to 4 percent in the United States.

In response to this global health care crisis, Frank Brady founded Medical Mission for Children (MMC) in 1999. Through the use of an expansive telemedicine network based on Polycom video systems, MMC dramatically improves the level of pediatric care available to children with severe medical conditions living in medically underserved areas.

The MMC Global Telemedicine Teaching Network (GTTN) allows participating hospitals in developing countries to contact hospitals and medical specialists in the United States for assistance in diagnosing and treating children with severe medical conditions. The U.S. doctors, using video communications with data-sharing technology, see the patient, the test results and medical records in real-time and are able to consult face to-face with the attending doctor, even though they may be several thousand miles away.

The results of MMC's Global Telemedicine and Teaching Network are tremendous, providing direct care to more than 28,000 seriously ill children. And the benefits don't stop there, with every telemedicine consultation, doctors in medically needy countries receive new information about symptoms, diseases and treatments and then apply that knowledge to future patients. The organization estimates that it has indirectly helped millions of additional children by speeding the dissemination of medical knowledge and progressively improving the overall level of care in a given region.

Recently, physicians in Armenia requested a consultation over the GTTN for a child who had been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Initially, his prognosis was grim, but after a battery of tests and an examination over video by US doctors, it was determined that he did not in fact have Cystic Fibrosis. In short order an appropriate treatment plan was put into place and the boy is on his way to a full recovery.

MMC also broadcasts medical education content all around the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the Medical Broadcasting Channel (MBC), which airs both donated and original medical video content to help educate physicians and other allied healthcare workers on both satellite and Internet2. MMC also hosts the Global Video Library of Medicine (GVLM), the largest single repository of digital medical video content in the world. All content in the GVLM is available to GTTN members on-demand providing convenient access to the most up-to-date medical information for healthcare workers around the globe.

The MMC network is also making a difference for children in the United States through its Giggles Theater that can accommodate children in wheelchairs and beds and brings performing artists directly to pediatric patients through weekly performances and hands-on activities. Music, puppetry, dance, storytellers, and “video field trips” to places like the Cincinnati Zoo help reduce the monotony for hospitalized children. “Studies have shown that the arts can play a significant role in a child's recovery by addressing the patient's emotional needs. That's why we felt so strongly that we had to make the children's theatre a reality,” says Brady.

The MMC network is well established and growing rapidly, encompassing pediatric healthcare facilities in 100 countries, and the volunteer services of more than 30 tier-one U.S.-based and international medical institutions.

Benefits
Has your project helped those it was designed to help?   Yes

What new advantage or opportunity does your project provide to people?
The MMC GTTN drastically improves healthcare outcomes for children suffering in the world’s medically underserved countries. To date, more than 28,000 children have received care directly through the network. In the time that the GTTN has been active, MMC has recorded an estimated 35 to 40 percent rate of incorrect initial diagnosis. That means that 35 to 40 percent of the children seen over the network have been immediately positively impacted by receiving an accurate diagnosis and being started on an appropriate care plan.

Has your project fundamentally changed how tasks are performed?   Yes

How do you see your project's innovation benefiting other applications, organizations, or global communities?
MMC estimates that it has already indirectly served an additional million-plus children in medically needy countries through the GTTN by speeding the dissemination of medical knowledge all over the world. The doctors MMC works with in medically underserved countries receive new information about everything from symptoms to diseases to treatment with each consultation. This information will then be applied to future patients, thereby progressively improving the overall level of care in the region.

MMC also broadcasts medical education content all around the world on its Medical Broadcasting Channel (MBC), which airs both donated and original medical video content 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help educate physicians and other allied healthcare workers on both satellite and Internet2. In addition, MMC hosts the Global Video Library of Medicine (GVLM), the largest single repository of digital medical video content in the world. All content in the GVLM is available to GTTN members on-demand, providing convenient access to the most up-to-date medical information for healthcare workers around the globe.


The Importance of Technology
How did the technology you used contribute to this project and why was it important?
Facilitating real-time, interactive video calls that allow doctors to see patients and actually share physical medical data is the foundation of the MMC program, and to facilitate this, the organization relies on Polycom video collaboration solutions. Visualization of a patient is key to providing an accurate diagnosis, and video conferencing technology enables this. No organization could ever hope to physically send physicians to all of the locations the GTTN reaches through video conferencing technology to see patients. And with the global expansion of the IP infrastructure, even hospitals in some of most remote corners of world have access to the GTTN.
It if the MMC philosophy that disease knows no geographic borders, why should medicine? Video conferencing allows the organization to break down geographical and political barriers. For example, a physician from the University of California at Davis was physically traveling to Cambodia periodically to treat patients. Now he can “be there” more often using the GTTN, seeing more patients and affecting more lives.

Originality
What are the exceptional aspects of your project?
The MMC GTTN is exceptional in that it is effectively harvesting the knowledge and medical expertise of top physicians at its more than 30 U.S. partner hospitals. Not only is it making that knowledge available, on demand, through telemedicine outreach, it offers easy access to that information through its MBC broadcasting network and its Global Video Library of Medicine. MMC has become a single point of access for medical professionals from all over the world seeking counsel and education.

How is it original?
While MMC is not the first or only organization to offer telemedicine consultations to medically underserved areas of the world, it is the only organization doing so on this large a scale. MMC has shown a tremendous capacity for building partnerships, allowing the organization to grow enormously in only eight years of operation. Partnerships with organizations such as the World Bank and the Fogarty Center at the National Institutes of Health, help MMC reach out to 100 countries, creating an unrivaled reach in the realm of telemedicine and medical education.

Is it the first, the only, the best or the most effective application of its kind?   Most effective

Success
Has your project achieved or exceeded its goals?   Exceeded

Is it fully operational?   Yes

How many people benefit from it?   28,000

If possible, include an example of how the project has benefited a specific individual, enterprise or organization. Please include personal quotes from individuals who have directly benefited from your work.
In 2005, a four-year old girl was admitted to the intensive care unit of Armenia’s National Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, her state of health declining rapidly, her diagnosis unknown, and no longer able to breathe on her own. Staff physicians were perplexed and unable to diagnose or treat her. Within 48 hours of being advised of the seriousness and complexity of the situation, MMC arranged a telemedicine consultation between a group of U.S.-based pediatric neurologists and the Armenian physicians providing treatment for the child. After approximately 45 minutes of dialogue among the U.S. and Armenian physicians, the U.S. doctors determined that the girl had contracted a rarely seen polyneuropathy in children. The disease is called Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). The girl was immediately placed on a treatment protocol and within days she was able to breathe on her own again and is presently on her way to a full recovery. This child’s life was saved.

In another recent example, a child from the pediatric intensive care unit of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in New Jersey attended a performance of MMC’s Giggles Children’s Theater. Through his oxygen mask, you could see that he was smiling, laughing and singing along. After the performance, the child’s nurse approached the Director of Giggles. She informed her that the boy had recently been displaying signs of clinical depression and as a result had become non-communicative. On this particular day, the patient had not uttered a word. While at the Giggles performance, however, the child’s disposition brightened and he was talking and laughing continuously. During the conversation, the nurse expressed how grateful she was for the existence of the Giggles Theater. She had witnessed for the first time the unquestionable healing influences of laughter and entertainment.

How quickly has your targeted audience of users embraced your innovation? Or, how rapidly do you predict they will?
Anecdotally, MMC reports that the physicians it works with in developing countries are extremely enthusiastic about both the telemedicine consultations available through the GTTN and the educational content the MBC and GVLM offer. The Telemedicine Program has grown significantly over the first eight years, which has created a core audience for MBC. As word gets out about the programming on MBC and the content available through their Global Video Library of Medicine, the programs growth should rival that of traditional media outlets.

MMC recently commissioned a study to determine the effectiveness of its broadcast network and currently it is on par with other commercial niche networks such as the Food Network or the Golf Channel in terms of its market penetration with healthcare providers globally. At present the MBC is reaching 1.7 million, or five to 10 percent of its target market, and it is on track reach 18.5 million global health care workers or 43 percent of its target market by 2012.


Difficulty
What were the most important obstacles that had to be overcome in order for your work to be successful? Technical problems? Resources? Expertise? Organizational problems?
When MMC first began the GTTN, its representatives encountered a lot of red tape in the countries they were trying to connect to the network. To counter this, MMC now appoints the first lady of the country ambassador of the project and has found that having someone in the executive branch of government to champion the cause to be very effective.

Often the most innovative projects encounter the greatest resistance when they are originally proposed. If you had to fight for approval or funding, please provide a summary of the objections you faced and how you overcame them.
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Digital/Visual Materials
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