Podcast: Using Unified Communications to Improve AIDS Treatment

Doctors in the Harvard University-based HOPE program are working with professionals around the world to disseminate the latest information about AIDS treatments. Dr. Rajesh says that such conferences, which are run every two times each month, expose medical staffs in far-flung locales to some of the most knowledgeable AIDS specialists in the world.

The HIV Online Provider Education (HOPE) program defines itself as a twice-monthly conference that links medical professionals across the globe — in the United States, Africa, Asia and Caribbean — via Internet conferencing technology provided by Saba. The HOPE program is part of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research. It isn't the type of sophisticated infrastructure that may be seen in an enterprise, but it is perfect for what the job is. And that's pretty good when the job is saving lives.

Unified Communication Edge's Carl Weinschenk spoke to three people associated with the project: Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, director of HIV Clinical Services and Education at the Massachusetts General Hospital; Milind Pansare, senior director of Social Cloud Applications for Saba; and Babak Salimi, head of product marketing and strategy for Collaboration Solutions at Saba.

The bottom line is that the technology is a key enabler of a project its sponsors say is disseminating a great deal of vital information to areas that almost certainly would not get it otherwise. The sponsors hope to add more video and perhaps implement other advances. But the project clearly is benefiting folks today and proving the efficacy of unified communications in challenging health care environments.

The Hope Project and Saba: [swf file="http://vid.itbe.com/ctoedge/ucehopejuly19x.mp3"]