AngelEye Health: 24/7 Streaming for Intensive Care Units

 

Removing Physical Barriers and Delivering Peace of Mind to NICU Families

With hospital visitation restrictions at an all-time high, AngelEye Health delivers around-the-clock live video monitoring to families of patients in critical care. Parents with newborns in the NICU are able to check on their babies via a secure stream for peace of mind when it matters most.

   

Case Study Snapshot

Challenges:	Solutions:	Outcomes:
Needed low-latency, high-quality video delivery to keep families connected via a smooth user experience — now and as the platform grows. Sought to configure to a complex start-and-stop mechanism for always-on bedside cameras that can be initiated by viewers outside of the hospital. Required robust security to meet HIPAA requirements, as well as resources and expertise to advance business quickly.	Wowza Streaming Engine, a customizable media server software for deploying video on premises, behind a firewall, or entirely offline.	Deployed a live video distribution network proven to deliver smooth video feeds regardless of the number of viewers or cameras in use at one time. Enabled one-way streaming capabilities that can be initiated by remote family members accessing the live content on an as-needed basis. Ensured compliance by leveraging Wowza’s full-service platform to configure end-to-end encryption and token-based authentication.

   

Keeping Families Connected When Physical Contact Isn’t Possible

Nobody plans on their newborn spending time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). And yet, approximately ten percent of babies born each year are admitted for additional monitoring. While these hospital nurseries provide specialized care to premature and ill neonates, they put a strain on family bonding. Parents can only spend so much time at their newborn’s side in the NICU. What’s more, additional family members are subject to limited hours of visitation and age restrictions.

To engage families in the care process despite physical barriers, AngelEye Health ensures that family members can see and communicate with neonates throughout their stay in the NICU. How exactly do they make this possible? By connecting dedicated beside cameras with live video streaming. 

Family members are able to log into a secure portal and instantly view a live video of their newborn child. Beyond just enabling remote family members to keep an eye on their loved ones, audio delivery lets users speak, sing, and read to the child despite physical isolation. What’s more, the platform delivers seamless video communication capabilities between clinicians and families — thereby reducing some of the workload within hospital environments.

 

 

AngelEye’s solution has always provided parents with reassurance by connecting them to a reliable 24/7 feed and updates on their baby’s status. But with recent restrictions to hospital visitations, the platform has helped overcome the disruptions of COVID-19. When new mothers and fathers can’t physically be with their child due to quarantine mandates, AngelEye delivers the next best alternative.

 

High-Quality Video Delivery for the Moments That Count

AngelEye Health’s platform has been a game-changer for service members deployed overseas. Countless fathers have been able to see their newborn child for the first time via a Wowza-enabled live stream. But even parents who aren’t physically distant struggle to strike a balance between bonding with their newborn and caring for their children at home. AngelEye helps solve for this by allowing parents to bring the NICU home with them.

Wowza’s technology has played an essential role in connecting families for more than five years. That’s because AngelEye built their reliable video infrastructure using the Wowza Streaming Engine software as their backbone. This allows them to deliver high-quality live content to a growing number of viewers — with security to boot.

“I can stream 1000 cameras, 2000 cameras, you name it. That has to do with both the video distribution network and our infrastructure as a company,” explains Justin French, CTO of AngelEye. “Some of the measurable benefits of Wowza beyond that are related to the fact that we haven’t had any major issues with delivering our video service. Our video is always very close to live, if not live. And the quality is always there.”

AngelEye’s ability to power remote hospital visits isn’t just heartwarming, it’s helped increase the bond between neonates and their families. But with the coronavirus pandemic prompting some hospitals to suspend parental visits to the NICU altogether, AngelEye provides a critical platform for coping with this new reality.

 

 

Using Streaming Video to Overcome COVID-19 Isolation

Restrictions to physical proximity take both a logistical and emotional toll. Luckily, in the current global health crisis, video streaming is enabling AngelEye Health to digitally overcome this distance. Beyond just connecting new families with neonates in the NICU, AngelEye is offering their solution to other intensive care settings, including the adult and pediatric critical care units.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved and changed everyone’s life, we really heard directly from a lot of our current customers that they were having challenges,” says Christopher Rand, CEO of AngelEye Health. “We’ve had a lot of adult ICU critical care units and even some other settings outside the hospital that are interested in utilizing the technology.”

Luckily, with Wowza, preparing for future growth hasn’t been an issue. AngelEye continues to deliver smooth, low-latency video content as their user base expands.

“We chose Wowza because we needed something that we could easily scale. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to grow our business as quickly,” says Justin French. “Ease of use and ease of deployment are also major benefits. Anyone can quickly go from a novice to understanding how to set up a video distribution network.”

Today, Wowza delivers the secure capabilities that AngelEye needs to meet HIPAA compliance, plus the flexibility to adapt to future needs. Our full-service platform allowed AngelEye to quickly get to market without in-house streaming expertise. And as AngelEye Health continues to evolve and add additional interactive video functionality, Wowza remains committed to putting mission-critical live streaming to work for their business.