Remote Conference for the
benefit of residents rotating
to satellite hospitals at
almost no cost
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences
Dr Chetan Shah
Dr Ralph Panek
Dr Chandra Donepudi
Dr Rohan Samant
Presenter: Dr Sarah Klein
What is a Remote Conference?

Remote conference allows people to
participate in the same conference at
the same time even though they are
physically not in the same place.
Conference at University of
Arkansas Medical Sciences
Hospital
Residents and staff
listening and watching
from Arkansas Children’s
Hospital
Let us sit on a time machine


Before we proceed, let us sit on a
time machine and go to year 2091.
We are now in 2091 and entering a
History 101 class
A slide from History 101
class of 2091 A.D.

There are two distinct eras in the history
of human beings
Pre-Internet Era - B.I. (Before
Internet)
&
Internet Era - A.I. (After Internet)

Launch of modern internet in the form of
www (world wide web) in 1991 A.D. was
Year 1 A.I.
Pre-Internet Era

In the pre-internet era, remote
conference meant Video
conference that involved
• High expense
• Limited access
• Poor quality
Internet Era


Internet era brought revolution in
telecommunication technology.
Now, the remote conference is
• Affordable
• Accessible
• High quality
Radiology Remote Conference

Radiology remote conference
involves
• Two way conversation between the
speaker and residents located at
different hospitals
• Sharing the same image or text
• Sharing the pointer to show a finding on
an image
Pre-PACS Era

In pre-PACS era, Radiology Conference meant
•
•
•
•


Radiographs
Projector slides
Transparencies
Laser pointer
Even expensive video conference set-ups had
unsatisfactory resolution of physical films or
projector slides limiting visualization of subtle
radiological findings.
High quality video conferences were even more
expensive.
PACS Era

Today, in PACS era, Radiology conference require
5 ‘P’s






PACS images on the computer
Power point on the computer
Pointer of the computer mouse
Personal computer
Phone
Obviously, if we can share the same computer
screen (desktop) at more than one location we
can achieve a remote conference.
Flow Diagram of connection
Internet connection
Phone connection
MAIN HOSPITAL
CONFERENCE
ROOM
SATELLITE
HOSPITAL
4 Components of Remote
Conference

Setting up a remote conference
requires
 1) Broadband high speed
internet

2) Sharing the computer screen

3) Good quality speaker phone

4) Teamwork
Sharing the computer screen


Free software is available over the internet that
allow us to share the computer screen.
It can be downloaded from
http://www.tightvnc.com/vncviewer.1.html


When you go the next slide or image on one
computer, the same screen is displayed on the
remote computer.
When the mouse pointer is moved to point to a
finding, residents at the remote location can see
it moving.
How much computer knowledge is
required?


Initial set-up will require the help of
a computer savvy resident or
someone from the computer
department of the hospital to
download and set up the software.
After initial set-up, only 2 mouse
clicks and a password are required.
Can the residents take a case from
the remote location?



Yes, because it is a two-way connection.
In fact, conference call and the software
allow multiple sites to participate at the
same time.
Resident from remote location can also
take a case and use mouse pointer from
that computer to point to a radiological
finding.
The speaker and the residents at other
locations can see the same mouse pointer
moving.
High quality speaker phone



Regular speaker phones at both the ends
provide adequate quality of voice.
If you want better voice quality, you need
to buy high quality speaker phones.
There are many high quality speaker
phones available in the market.
Cost of high quality speaker phone



We used Polycom SoundStation2W. It
Costs about $600
For a larger room you can use Polycom
SoundStation VTX 1000 model with 2
extra expanded speakers to cover entire
room. It costs about $ 1100
These are available at Best Buy or Staples
or on various websites.
For remote connection where long
distance call applies



www.skype.com allows unlimited calls
within US and Canada for only $30 a year.
Skype talk from computer to computer is
free.
Some paid software includes skype as a
component.
TightVNC is currently in use at
UAMS/ACH



TightVNC is free software that does
not provide technical support.
We have been using this software
daily without any problems.
If you want to share DVD or cine
clips it might not work well and the
transmission may be slow.
Those who want extra goodies for
some cost
Those who can spend more and want
more luxurious features can use paid
software that require monthly
maintenance fee or one time fee.
Generally, they allow a 2 to 4 week free
trial.
www.gotomeeting.com
www.meetmenow.com
www.teamviewer.com
Benefits of Remote Conferencing





Eliminates commuting between sites. At
ACH/UAMS it saves 30 to 45 minutes per
day per resident.
Post-call residents can connect to VPN and
participate from home.
Multiple sites can participate at the same
time.
Allows faculty and technologists at remote
facility to participate in conferences.
Residency programs other than radiology
can benefit from remote conferencing.
Post-call resident attending
conference from home
Teamwork


Setting up this remote connection to
connect our Arkansas Children’s Hospital
(ACH) with University of Arkansas Medical
Sciences (UAMS) required team work.
The team:




Chetan Shah (Fellow)
Chandra Donepudi (PGY 3)
Ralph Panek (PGY 5)
Rohan Samant (PGY 2)
Questions?
If you have any technical questions about setting
up the remote connection, feel free to contact us
at:
shahchetanc@uams.edu
cdonepudi@uams.edu
panekralphc@uams.edu
rssamant@uams.edu