Communications firm Viasat is working with fellow Californian company 19Labs, a specialist in remote telemedicine, to deliver real-time, enhanced telemedicine and remote patient monitoring (RPM).

The aim is to provide affordable, comprehensive clinic experiences, where patients, clinicians and healthcare providers can securely connect and share healthcare information, even in hard-to-reach communities.

Beyond just videocalls, enhanced telemedicine replicates the clinical experience, integrating smart diagnostic devices to deliver vital real-time data during the consult, enabling medical staff to make better, more accurate assessments. This enhanced telemedicine offering leverages Viasat’s high-speed satellite-based broadband service combined with 19Lab’s cloud-based, Hippa-compliant telehealth healthcare platform, to aid in secure doctor-patient communications where bandwidth-intensive diagnostic and health information can be safely and securely transmitted over Viasat’s network.

Point-of-care e-clinics from 19Labs are being installed throughout Latin America in unserved and underserved communities. In the USA, 19Labs recently deployed e-clinic kits to schools in Utah and with physician practices in Missouri to extend healthcare access funded by the original 2020 FCC Cares Act grant.

Currently, 19labs is helping healthcare and education groups prepare applications under the recently expanded 2021 FCC telemedicine grant programme.

“Over the past year as the Covid-19 outbreak took over the world, we saw families in unserved and underserved communities globally struggling to receive a telehealth diagnosis or treatment due to a lack of connectivity,” said Evan Dixon, vice president at Viasat. “We continue to seek out cooperative opportunities to provide value where we can be part of global healthcare. Through this initiative with 19Labs, we can deliver telemedicine access, set-up e-clinics and provide enhanced mobile patient care, which can help provide relief to those living in hard-to-connect locations.”

Ram Fish, CEO of 19Labs, added: “The Covid-19 pandemic exposed holes in the healthcare delivery system both in the USA and globally. With personal restrictions and social distancing prevalent, governments and healthcare organisations are now embracing the benefits of providing healthcare remotely into all communities while better utilising their limited healthcare resources.”

By collaborating with Viasat, he said he believed its satellite-based internet service created an opportunity to bring affordable, reliable telehealth services to people that have traditionally been without healthcare access.

“Our advanced telemedicine and RPM – from comprehensive remote examinations to advanced diagnostics – deliver a seamless experience both for providers and patients,” said Fish. “With the 19Labs Gale platform, we empower healthcare providers to deliver smarter, cost-effective, patient-centric care wherever the patient is at home, in a community centre or at school.”

Led by former Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm executives, 19Labs was founded in 2015.

For more than 30 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the company is developing a global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections.