Verizon Business (News - Alert) has pulled open the curtain to reveal a new suite of telehealth solutions. Verizon Telehealth Collaboration Services leverage videoconferencing to enable hospitals, physicians and other health care organizations to see patients at remote locations. The carrier will also offer consulting services to the medical vertical to help them access and implement these services.

 

The company would seem to be in a plumb position to offer such services, given more than 90 percent of Fortune 1000 health care companies already rely on Verizon’s IT solutions.  

 

“Health care providers increasingly are tapping the power of IT, and our telehealth solutions offer an effective way to meet a wide range of challenges, including the expansion of access to care, speeding diagnoses and driving efficiency,” says Rajeev Kapoor, global managing director of Verizon Connected Healthcare.  “These new IT capabilities will help hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices modernize the delivery of health care – a critical need throughout the U.S. health care system today.”

 

Datamonitor forecasts that annual spending on telehealth hardware, software and related services will nearly triple over the next three years, from the current $2.4 billion to $6.1 billion in 2012.