The Power of Technology Can Transform Healthcare and Save Lives.

By: Kathryn C. Brown, Senior vice president of Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility, Verizon

Olivia "Bing Bing" Mann was a tiny infant with a complex, but treatable heart disease. From her home in a Chinese orphanage, it appeared virtually impossible for Bing Bing to receive the medical attention that she so urgently needed. But the London-based Swinfen Charitable Trust intervened and - utilizing the latest in telemedicine technology - was able to link baby Bing Bing with Dr. Karen Rheuben, one of the world's foremost experts in pediatric cardiology. From her offices halfway around the world, Dr. Rheuben, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Telehealth, virtually provided local caregivers with guidance on how to treat Bing Bing, who underwent the first in a series of life-saving surgeries. Today, Bing Bing is a thriving, happy three-year-old living a fuller and healthier life with her adoptive family in Pennsylvania.

Bing Bing's story reinforces that, despite the myriad of challenges facing our healthcare system today - including rising healthcare costs and the lack of quality and access to healthcare - there is a tremendous opportunity to use new technology tools to transform the way healthcare is delivered, especially to those most vulnerable - children, women and seniors - in remote or rural areas.

Click here to read the full text of this article from the original source, the Huffington Post.