Three months ago, the two hospitals -- Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland and San Francisco General Hospital -- began work on a US$1.5 million initiative known as the Video Medical Interpretation (VMI) Project to link their respective systems in order to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
More than half of the patients at both hospital systems have limited English proficiency, so the health care centers employ in-house interpreters to translate doctors' orders and medication regimens.
Trial videoconference communications between facilities run by the two hospitals, at distances of up to 50 miles, have started in recent weeks, officials said. "The initial findings are encouraging," said Bruce Occena, a project consultant at the Health Access Foundation in Oakland, which is working on the project.
Savings expected
Gloria Orme, a registered nurse and director of operations, primary care, patient advocacy and interpreter services at San Francisco General, estimated that the two hospitals combined save at least US$420,000 annually in personnel costs with the current system.
San Francisco General installed its videoconferencing system last year, she said.
The Alameda hospital system began installing its videoconferencing system in 2003, with networking gear, videoconferencing cameras and monitors set up in several facilities. That project cut the average time an interpreter spends with patients from 37 minutes to 17 minutes, said Janice Chin, director of interpretation services at Alameda and program manager for the VMI Project. Previously, interpreters had to drive from a base facility to Alameda hospital buildings, Chin said.
Although there were some initial doubts, several of the interpreters have said the system has improved their jobs.
"When I first heard of VMI, I said, 'Oh my God,' but I was surprised the very first time and [saw] this [system] is only a monitor," said Maria Barajas, a speech interpreter at San Francisco General. "Patients are not afraid and quickly adapt."
The systems in both hospitals use Cisco Systems Inc. routers, switches and IP phones, and Tandberg 1000 MXP videoconferencing systems from Tandberg ASA in Lysaker, Norway.