1. Doctors Share Life-Saving Expertise by Video
District hospital WKK uses video conferencing to improve access to specialist
healthcare while saving costs.
Customer Name: WKK Business Impact:
Industry: Healthcare • Closer collaboration with other hospitals
• Sharing of specialist expertise with doctors in different locations
Location: Germany
• Monthly savings of at least €120,000 on travel costs
Number of Employees: 2200
Case Study
Business Challenge
that we needed to collaborate with other hospitals to
As the third biggest hospital in the German state of
share knowledge more effectively and realised that video
Schleswig-Holstein, the district hospital Westküstenklinikum
conferencing could play a crucial role in helping us to
(WKK) is one of the leading healthcare providers in the
achieve this.”
region. More than 2200 employees take care of 65,000
patients each year, and with an annual turnover of €150 When looking for the most suitable video conferencing
million, WKK is also Schleswig-Holstein’s eleventh biggest solution, Kabir needed to satisfy several key demands. He
company. Part of the so-called “6K-Network” a group of six
, wanted a system that could accommodate a large number of
strategically-aligned hospitals in the state, WKK is regularly conference participants and that could be used flexibly from
among the region’s top-ranked health facilities. various locations. The solution also had to be compatible “We recognised that we needed to
with a wide range of different hardware, fully secure to
Working in a rural area, where there are large distances
between hospitals and qualified medical personnel are
protect sensitive patient data, and offer high-quality visuals. collaborate with other hospitals to share
scarce, one of the biggest challenges is to ensure that Cisco impressed Kabir by meeting all these requirements, knowledge and realised that video
patients have access to the specialist expertise they need. as well as providing high-quality pre-sales analysis and
consulting. “Once we realised we had found the right partner
conferencing could play a crucial role in
“There are simply not enough doctors at each individual
hospital to guarantee the broad spectrum of care required,”
in Cisco, we decided to invest comprehensively,” says Kabir. helping us to achieve this.”
says Humayaun Kabir, chief information officer at WKK. “Only Humayaun Kabir,
by pooling resources with other hospitals in the 6K-Network Chief Information Officer, WKK
can we deliver a comprehensive range of treatment.”
However, trips to meet staff at other locations were costly
and time-consuming. “Every year, we were spending
huge amounts on travel,” says Kabir. “We recognised

2. Doctors Share Life-Saving Expertise by Video
Continued
Case Study
Solution and Results However, the savings in travel costs are not the foremost
consideration when assessing the system’s real value.
After installation of an initial system, WKK upgraded its “Video conferencing enables us to share a very limited
Cisco TelePresence® solution several times. Now a total resource of medical expertise across locations. For us, this
of 10 endpoints, including Cisco® TelePresence System alone proves the system’s worth,” says Kabir.
EX90 units, are in use in nine different locations across the
hospitals, with two Cisco TelePresence MCU Conference Crucial to the system’s success was the high level of
Director units controlling the system. WKK’s current set- support offered throughout by Cisco. “Everything worked
up heavily features the Cisco Jabber Video™ function that just fine. The implementation was extremely quick and it only
enables users to participate in video conferencing from their took six weeks to get everything up and running,” says Kabir.
desktop units or laptops, supporting flexible working.
In the near future, Kabir is looking to expand the video
As a result, Kabir’s vision of the widespread sharing of solution to include doctors with a private practice anywhere
expert knowledge has become a reality. “Every day we have in Schleswig-Holstein, who wish to consult with WKK’s
‘case conferences’ where specialists in five or six different
, specialists. “The idea is to equip private practices with video
locations use video conferencing to look at the same conferencing so that they can get input from our experts
radiological images of a tumour, for example, and assess as needed,” says Kabir. “This would be another major step “The patient does not have to choose
the case at hand,” says Kabir. “The patient does not have to towards improving access to top healthcare across the
choose one specialist any more as all available specialists region.” one specialist any more as all available
discuss each case together. This is obviously a great step specialists discuss each case together.
forward.” To achieve this and take advantage of other future
opportunities, Kabir relies on Cisco as a partner in This is obviously a great step forward.”
Apart from increasing the efficiency of patient treatment, developing the most innovative solutions. “We have a very
there are other practical and economical advantages. With clear idea of where we want to be, and it is thanks to Cisco Humayaun Kabir,
the Cisco TelePresence solution in place, CEOs and heads that we’re developing a communications strategy that will Chief Information Officer, WKK
of departments from the 6K-Network do not have to travel help get us there,” says Kabir.
for their regular strategy meetings anymore. As a result,
the system paid for itself within three months and Kabir
estimates that the combined savings in travel costs across
the six locations amount to at least €120,000 every month.
“Since we usually have more than one doctors’ conference
each month, actual savings are often even higher,” says
Kabir.
To find out more about Cisco TelePresence, go to
www.cisco.com/web/telepresence
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