Last weekend I came across an amazing story in The Enterprise (Brockton, MA) that told the story of a woman giving birth at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital (one of my clients) and sharing the experience with her husband via Skype. For those of you not familiar with Skype, it is an internet-based program that allows users to speak face-to-face, actually viewing one another. In this particular case, the husband was an Army Sgt. serving in Afghanistan! I find this amazing and expect other hospitals to jump on this bandwagon in a hurry!
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Skype, Facebook and other technologies are changing childbirth, allowing proud parents to witness births from thousands of miles away and letting loved ones share photos and video online within minutes of a baby’s arrival.
While cell phones are not typically allowed in birthing rooms, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital has permitted the use of Skype in at least one other case when a parent was stationed abroad, said Debi DiCarlo, nurse administrative coordinator on the 3-11 p.m. shift.
The story was also covered by a local TV affiliate, WBZ. Check out their story and view the video at http://wbztv.com/local/skype.birth.soldier.2.1919100.html.
To me, it is amazing how technology is impacting healthcare. Patients can Tweet from their hospital bed, post to their Facebook Wall, and enter tips on FourSquare. The citizen reporter is truly impacting what people know about hospitals and medical centers across the country!
To read more, go to http://tinyurl.com/34z3hju.
Post by Dan Dunlop, The Healthcare Marketer
Yes! I recently also wrote a story about a young couple at our hospital – Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach – who Skyped during delivery in February. The families of the couple live in Europe so they used the service to reach out to loved ones during the delivery and right after the delivery so everyone could meet their new baby boy. Our staff totally supported their use of the technology and it was such a great story!
Salina, I’d love to see the story your wrote about your hospital using Skype. Maybe I could reprint it in my blog. Let me know.
Thanks,
Dan
I would love to share it! I’ll email it to you.
[...] 4, 2010 by dandunlop After I wrote an earlier blog post about hospitals using Skype in the birthing suite, I was contacted by Salina Wang of Halifax Health [...]