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South Carolina Department of Mental Health Improves Patient Adherence to Psychiatric Treatment by Nearly 200%, with Polycom® RealPresence®
Posted on Monday, September 10, 2012
South Carolina Department of Mental Health Improves Patient Adherence to Psychiatric Treatment by Nearly 200%, Reduces Rehospitalizations, and Saves Taxpayers $21.7 Million with Telepsychiatry Program Powered with Polycom® RealPresence® Video Solutions

More than 12,100 telepsychiatry consultations completed to date; state saves more than $1,800 per episode of treatment and reduces hospitalization rates for psychiatric patients
 
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sep 10, 2012 : Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications, today announced that the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) has expanded the telepsychiatry consultation program for community hospital emergency departments it first implemented on the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform in 2010 to 21 hospitals throughout the state. The program, which originally connected 15 hospitals, has enabled SCDMH psychiatrists to conduct more than 12,100 rapid consultations with patients in hospital emergency departments, reducing the cost per treatment episode by over $1,800 for a total taxpayer savings of more than $21.7 million.
 
Rapid Intervention and Community-based Care Improving Outcomes and Reducing Unnecessary Rehospitalizations
“Our telepsychiatry consultation program is focused on accelerating the initial treatment for patients to improve health outcomes and reduce the length of hospitalizations,” said Ed Spencer, Director of SCDMH’s Telepsychiatry Consultation Program. “This enhances the treatment experience for patients and their families, and it provides significant cost savings for taxpayers by shifting more treatment to outpatient care. Polycom video solutions help us achieve our emphasis on community-based care and our ongoing efforts to reduce rehospitalizations.”
 
Prior to the launch of the telepsychiatry consultation program, the average mental health emergency-department admittance resulted in a five-to-six day hospital stay. Today, 43 percent of patients are discharged the same day they enter the hospital. Moreover, the early psychiatric intervention has helped increase adherence to post-hospitalization outpatient care programs by nearly 200 percent.
 
Polycom Immersive Video Enhances Consults with HD Detail of Patient Symptoms
“The use of Polycom’s HD video is one of the keys to our system’s performance,” said Brenda Ratliff, MD, Program Medical Director. “While the verbal interaction between doctor and patient is very important during a psych consult, the non-verbal cues can be even more important. Psychiatrists can learn a tremendous amount by looking for subtle indicators, such as lack of eye contact, abnormal movement, or enlarged pupils. HD video is helping us provide the best possible treatment for our patients.”
 
In addition, the reliability and ease of use of the Polycom solutions are key factors in the program’s success, noted Robert L. Bank, SCDMH Medical Director. “We don’t need to spend much time training our doctors,” he said. “The environment is intuitive and our solution is essentially turn-key. It works very well.”
 
The program’s success has led to plans for further expansion, with the number of participating hospitals slated to increase from 21 to 30 in 2012, and the availability of telepsychiatry services scheduled to move from 16 hours per day to 24/7. Eight other states have contacted SCDMH to gather information about rolling out similar services.
 
SCDMH has installed Polycom RealPresence Desktop Systems - HDX® 4000 in the physicians’ offices and wireless, high-definition Polycom® Practitioner Carts™ in the patients’ rooms at participating hospitals. Natural, crisp conversations can occur even when multiple parties are speaking, and Constant Clarity™ technology, protects voice and video – even during packet loss scenarios on crowded networks. The carts can be moved nearly anywhere in an emergency department where a patient is waiting. In addition, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health uses the Polycom RealPresence Platform – the most interoperable and comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video collaboration – to power their video delivery.
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Douglas Fearing- Co-Founder / President

A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.

Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.

Lois Fearing- Co-Founder/Accounting, Human Resources

A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.

Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.

Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.

Ehren Tresner-VP of Technology and Innovation

Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.

Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.

Ben Voeck-Director of Commercial AV

With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.

By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.

Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.

Chris Matson-Senior VP of Sales

Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.

Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.