Friday, April 17, 2009
Phoenix Business Journal - by Jan Buchholz
A small Scottsdale company hopes to revolutionize emergency medicine with a product it will unveil later this month at the American Telemedicine Conference in Las Vegas.
GlobalMedia, which began as a teleconferencing firm for general business and has attracted Jerry Colangelo as an investor, is turning its attention to medical applications — specifically, the Transport AV.
The device, which is being manufactured at a 26,000-square-foot warehouse in Scottsdale, is expected to generate interest from a variety of users, including trauma centers, ambulance operators, municipalities, nursing homes and rural medical facilities. The project was designed to help minimize the time it takes for a doctor to see, diagnose and prescribe treatment for a critically ill or injured patient.
“Time is of the essence, and we believe Transport AV will give doctors an edge for saving patients,” said GlobalMedia Sales Director Jay Culver.
Weighing in at about 30 pounds, the battery-operated Transport AV transmits images and medical data to doctors and medical personnel in real time. It can be placed on a mobile cart, enabling remotely located medical personnel to monitor patients continuously at the site of the incident, during the ambulance or helicopter ride, and in the emergency room.
“It allows a doctor to see the patient and the area of concern,” said GlobalMedia founder and General Manager Joel Barthelemy. “It provides doctors with clear images and data remotely, so they can be there and yet not be there.”
The device — about the size of a laptop — includes a computer with microphone and a trademarked stethoscope, exam camera and imaging software. Also included are a wireless keyboard and headsets. The price, depending on specifications, ranges from $29,000 to $34,000.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center already purchased four units. GlobalMedia hopes to sell five at the Las Vegas trade show, which is expected to draw about 2,000 participants, and 30 more by the end of the year.
By then, Barthelemy hopes critical mass will be met and demand will increase significantly. He said that will allow him to ramp up the number of local employees, from engineers and software developers to assemblers and administrative personnel.
GlobalMedia is no stranger to high-tech products for the medical field. It continues to sell teleconferencing equipment and services to other industries, too.
Neither the company nor Colangelo would reveal the amount of his investment, but the local sports mogul said in an e-mail to the Phoenix Business
Journal that he was “especially proud to be involved in a company making its mark in Arizona and across the world in health care technologies.”
Among the company’s more notable clients are Stanford University Medical Center, Barrow Neurological Institute, Mayo Clinic, Maricopa Integrated Health System, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Healthcare Corp. of America.
Dr. Mark Smith, system director of simulation and innovation for Banner Health in Phoenix, said he was unaware of the Transport AV, but he said the model for that technology “has been well-established. The military is already doing it in war zones. It’s being done with good results.”
Development of a sophisticated emergency medicine mobile unit has been hampered by high costs, quality control and mass production issues, Smith said.
“If this product indeed overcomes those issues and works well, then it will be very useful,” he said.
Global Media Group LLC
Address: 15020 N. 74th St., Scottsdale
business: Teleconferencing and telemedicine
Founded: 2002
Founder: Joel Barthelemy
Employees: 15
Revenue: Would not disclose
Products: Capsure software, TotalExam Digital Examination Camera, StethOne Chest Piece Set, ClearMic Pro with TL Stethoscope
Web: www.globalmedia.com
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