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MillimeterDream Job: Distance Medicine
Jun 10, 2009 12:00 PM, By Kristinha M. Anding
Medical Missions for Children leverages video technology to disseminate cutting-edge medical education abroad.
Medical Missions for Children (MMC) recently constructed its own fully digital, HD video broadcast facility, which includes a complete studio lighting grid, three Panasonic AK-HC931B HD multiformat studio cameras, an AK-HC1500G HD POV camera and control system, and an AG-HPX500 P2 HD shoulder-mount camcorder. There are also six editing suites, an HD telepresence studio, and an HD audio-recording booth. The studio is also available for rental, with proceeds benefiting MMC.
John Riehl found the perfect way to marry his interests in global health care and technology. As the president and chief operations officer of Paterson, N.J.-based Medical Missions for Children (MMC), Riehl oversees the nonprofit’s initiatives, which include using video technology and programming to improve medical outcomes for critically ill children and adults in developing nations.
MMC started out with a global telemedicine network that enabled U.S.-based pediatric specialists to videoconference with physicians in the developing world. MMC provided the necessary gear, including Polycom videoconferencing processors and televisions; installed the technology; and negotiated contracts with local Internet service providers for 108 children’s hospitals overseas, connecting them with the expertise of 27 U.S. medical centers. “By leveraging technology, we could bring a doctor from the United States right into the exam room of a hospital or clinic in the developing world,” Riehl says, noting that in 50 percent of the cases, this resulted in the correction of diagnoses and treatment protocols.
To expand its outreach, MMC built a satellite transport facility and launched the Medical Broadcast Channel, which broadcasts videos of medical lectures, symposia, and medical and surgical procedures culled from MMC’s Global Video Library of Medicine as well as the organization’s own productions, including the series Plain Talk About Health, Tomorrow’s Medicine Today, and Take Care. Riehl says MMC got into production when the nonprofit realized there was plenty of new medical information that no one had yet recorded—information that could be made available to the developing world.
MMC began producing at Montclair State University, but it recently constructed its own fully digital, HD video broadcast facility: the MMC-Panasonic HDTV Studio. Riehl says Panasonic donated about $700,000 in equipment, systems integration, and design. The new broadcast studio and set includes a complete studio lighting grid, three Panasonic AK-HC931B HD multiformat studio cameras, an AK-HC1500G HD point-of-view camera and control system, and an AG-HPX500 P2 HD shoulder-mount camcorder. There are also six editing suites, an HD telepresence studio, and an HD audio-recording booth.
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Riehl says MMC will use the studio to expand its programming, with plans for a six-part mental health series aimed at college students, a documentary between St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and web-friendly shorts providing introductions to breakthroughs in medical science. He says the studio is also available for rental.
“We have a truly HD studio in the New York metropolitan area available for independent producers and others, and all proceeds from rental costs go to support our charity,” Riehl says. “We can provide the highest-quality high-definition technology available at a cost that is less than what most producers are paying for a standard-def studio, and all the proceeds go to support a great mission.”
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