As the end of 2022 fast approaches, we at Hippo would like to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate a momentous year. 2022 has been an exciting time for our team as we have been able to make concerted progress towards our mission to serve patients and those who care for them by leading the transformation to virtual care for providers and educators – expanding access to clinical expertise to improve the quality of care, no matter the location. From remote ambulance care in Dubai to dialysis clinics in Guatemala, Hippo is proud to be leading the charge towards the next generation of Virtual Care technology.
‘Eye of Paramedic’ helps doctors in Dubai remotely treat ambulance patients
Paramedics and doctors in Dubai got their first glimpse of a new pilot project to enhance ambulatory care at the 2022 Dubai Health Forum in March. Through our partnership with Dubai Corporation Ambulance Services, doctors at the emergency department at Rashid Hospital can now see and hear what paramedics are seeing in the field, enabling them to increase the accuracy and efficiency of patient diagnosis, treatment and intake. Hippo’s hands-free, voice-activated, wearable headsets with videoconferencing capabilities provide a “through the eyes of the clinician” viewpoint, enabling clinical teams to collaborate in real time, remotely. With the implementation of this new system, emergency physicians can now give instructions remotely for critical patient care during the all-important ‘Golden Hour,’ the first 60 minutes that are vital for lifesaving in emergency cases.
Increasing access to dialysis with decentralized care
Nephrology, like many other medical specialties, is facing a critical shortage of providers. With the help of Hippo Virtual Care (HVC), providers in Guatemala are working to change that. “Using the headset saves us time,” explains Dr. Weynin Sierra, “Because right now moving from one unit to another takes about three to four hours. This will allow us to expand our clinics even more and provide services to a greater number of patients.” The HVC platform gives nephrologists like Dr. Sierra the chance to round virtually, saving time and seeing to the needs of patients at multiple locations without the need to travel. This next-generation virtual care system allows doctors to be with patients in real time. No longer will patients have to wait days or even weeks to receive the specialist care they need.
New partnerships expand connectivity
This year, Hippo has expanded our partnerships to connect even more physicians through virtual care systems. Our partnership with Advantix enables global roaming and seamless connectivity on the HVC platform, further advancing remote partnerships to deliver treatment in the field. “With Advantix connectivity, we can ensure continuous uptime in rural and remote locations that don’t have access to WiFi. This can often be critical when dealing with trauma patients in the field,” says Dr. Patrick Quinlan, CEO and Co-founder of Hippo Technologies.
Along with this, Hippo’s platform is now able to integrate with even more third-party videoconferencing solutions thanks to our partnership with Pexip. With Pexip’s technology, providers can join video calls even in low bandwidth situations, as are often encountered in the field.
A highly reputable third-party validation of Hippo’s solution and capabilities
In October, Ochsner Health, a 40-hospital, 100-site, $4.3 billion health system serving the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South made a seed-round investment in Hippo, to improve patient access to specialist services and to advance clinician productivity, community outreach and population health. Not only does this endorsement give us a runway to further develop our proofs of concept within a highly respected and innovative integrated healthcare delivery system – it also gives us the valuable opportunity to collaborate with Ochsner Health clinicians, digital health experts, Medicare Advantage insurance, and risk-based contract management, through the creation of a “living learning laboratory”.
Our use cases will address some of the most pressing needs in health systems today, including reduction of readmissions, improved post-acute and home care, streamlined hospital throughput, more effective rural care, workforce shortages, and more inclusive team-based medical care. All of these use cases are centered on a core theme, that of improving the patient encounter through Hippo Virtual Care solution sets.
This year has been full of opportunities and milestones, culminating in the imminent launch of our new Hippo Virtual Care 2.0 platform. But the hard work lies ahead of us, and as we head into a new year full of promise and reward, we at Hippo remain as committed as ever to making a difference to patients around the world and those who care for them.
