October 21, 2011 – Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., conceptualized “CodeHeart,” a highly secure mobile application solution developed and customized in collaboration with AT&T that provides a real-time video and audio stream that can be used in critical care situations, such as ambulances in transit.
The solution can be used by hospital cardiologists to view, in real-time, a patient's condition while simultaneously speaking with the patient's first responder or the attending emergency department (ED) physician. Importantly, the solution also provides physicians the ability to view vital signs and test results — like electrocardiograms (ECG) — captured through the real-time video feed.
Using the mobile application, cardiologists can assess and prepare cardiac treatment before the patient arrives at the ED.
The custom application can be downloaded to mobile devices of authorized physicians or hospital workstations, and allows instant streaming or video archiving via AT&T's network and is designed to transport and store protected health information in accordance with the HIPAA Security Rule.
"Washington Hospital Center has been in the forefront in heart care for decades," said Lowell Satler, M.D., director of interventional cardiology at the Hospital Center. "When it comes to treating a patient who appears to be suffering from chest pain or other heart attack symptoms, every second counts. CodeHeart delivered from AT&T’s network helps us provide optimal care as quickly as possible and effectively treat every heart patient that comes to our facility."
This new solution allows first responders to remotely initiate a real-time video/audio session with hospital cardiologists so they can instantly view a patient's condition and ECGs, guide the first responder on interim treatment and prepare the hospital to provide appropriate care while the patient is en route to the emergency room.
The solution helps Washington Hospital Center more efficiently dedicate its care team and resources. The Hospital Center's care team will be able to determine in advance how to prepare for treatment – either with immediate preparation in the ED, by dispatching physicians to a patient in the field who cannot be readily transported, or by allocating physicians to the most critical patients once they arrive.
The application, which was developed and customized for Washington Hospital Center through collaboration with AT&T, can be downloaded to mobile devices of authorized physicians and hospital workstations for convenient access. In addition, the live video content can be streamed or immediately archived so physicians can revisit the data at a later time if needed.
Washington Hospital Center has implemented the solution at six hospital sites to date. The Hospital Center serves patients located hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C. and the CodeHeart application allows physicians and first responders to view a patient's condition remotely in both rural and urban markets.
For more information: www.att.com
November 21, 2023 
