On-Site, Broadcast-Quality Studios Put Hospitals in the News

by Theresa Jacobellis

Jacobellis It’s a hospital media person’s dream: a major news stor with a healthcare angle breaks, and your hospital happens to employ the nation’s foremost expert on the subject. Unfortunately, unless you are located in New York, Atlanta, or another major market, your chances of landing an interview with a national news outlet are slim. The cost of flying your expert to town for an in-studio interview is prohibitive. A network-sponsored satellite feed taped remotely at your location will set the network back at least $1,500, and in this era of shrinking news budgets, the stations are likely to find a local, albeit perhaps less authoritative, alternative.

Texas Children’s Hospital recently joined the growing list of healthcare facilities, including Mayo Clinic, Beaumont Health System, Henry Ford Health System, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Memorial Hermann Health System that have implemented a technological solution to this logistical conundrum. They have invested in a turn-key, on-site, broadcast-quality studio that allows their subject matter experts to participate in live or taped interviews conducted by journalists anywhere in the world.

The ReadyCam studio is a product of a Boston-based company called VideoLink. Studios can be set up in any open space or office. The company prefers a windowless room that measures at least 12 feet by 16 feet, but if that’s not available, they are flexible.

“Systems are custom built, so if you don’t have extra square footage, we can design a studio to fit your space,” says Dan Connelly, account executive at VideoLink.

Distribution of high-definition video content to broadcast news outlets occurs via the Internet using an enhanced IP network.

“Our enhanced IP network not only consistently, reliably delivers HD video, but does so at a cost that is a third or fourth of a fiber line,” says Marianne Rocco, VideoLink’s director of marketing.

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