Future Care CEO Discusses Tele-medicine for Maritime
Future Care, Inc. CEO Christina DeSimone presented at this year’s CMA Shipping 2017 Conference, held in Stamford, Conn., where she discussed the mitigation of crewmember medical claims utilizing innovative techniques, such as Tele-Medical Physician Advice at Sea and Future Care’s unique Caring for the Crew Program.
DeSimone focused on the idea that medical triage for crewmembers begins on board the vessel, and should be utilized for any medical incident, no matter how small. Primary health care aliments in particular require immediate treatment on board, with physician oversight, thus assisting the crewmember immediately, avoiding emergency shoreside treatment, emergency deviations and unnecessary repatriations.
Future Care’s on board triage services allow for early intervention medical care for the crew and cost containment for the owner and their insurer. Tele-Medical advice has been at the helm of ship owners’ current concerns with the 2013 Title IV Maritime Labor Convention in effect that requires a ship owner to give their crewmember access to tele-medical advice at sea.
Future Care Live combines its Caring for the Crew program with live video streaming software to provide a n elevated level of medical care to commercial shipping and marine personnel during emergency illness or injury at sea, as well as to respond to routine healthcare needs.
“This is modern technology meeting the needs of our most important asset,” said panel moderator, Douglas Stevenson, Director, Center of Seafarer’s Rights at the Seaman’s Church Institute.
Future Care’s most recent medical statistics presented at CMA have shown that illness at sea is the predominate cause for captains to ask for medical advice. The presentation summarized that managing and monitoring a crewmember’s medical treatment should be a continuous process both on board the vessel and shoreside. Future Care meets the requirements of the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and international standards for the electronic transmission of private medical information.