The platform is being developed along with Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, making use of advanced technologies such as immersive and cloud-based communications.

Expected to be ready for commercial launch in early 2013, the platform will offer secure, real-time clinical encounters in a virtual ‘exam room’ designed to fit the workflow of health care providers and the mobility of patients.

Using a secure Web portal, patients will have access to both scheduled and emergency care from any location at any time through a variety of mobile devices using real-time video and audio communication among multiple participants in multiple locations.

At the same time, the system will securely generate, retrieve and store patient data in a clinically relevant way.

Alcatel-Lucent Ventures VP Sid Ahuja said the challenge involved in creating this next-generation telemedicine system is designing a true multi-point communication platform that allows everyone involved in the medical case to securely view the same data and medical records at the same time regardless of the communication device used.

"With cloud-based technologies, services and software applications are delivered from the Internet rather than a dedicated enterprise network in a single location, enabling a new level of medical collaboration and information sharing via secure real-time audio, video and data links," Ahuja said.