Case Study: Clark Clinic / Children’s Heartbeat Trust achieves life‑saving remote pediatric cardiac care and a mean saving of £728 per patient with Lifesize

Telemedicine Brings Life-Saving Expertise into Patients’ Homes via HD Video Collaboration

Clark Clinic, part of the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, is a specialist paediatric cardiology centre that cares for children across Northern Ireland. With patients dispersed over a wide area, frequent follow-ups and an inefficient on‑call system that relied on phone advice, the clinic needed a simple, reliable way to deliver expert care remotely and share specialist input with regional hospitals.

Clark deployed LifeSize HD video conferencing—issuing laptops to discharged families, linking hospitals for neonatal scans and giving consultants remote on‑call access—so teams can review scans and physiological data in real time and decide quickly whether admission is needed. The telemedicine program reduced travel and stress for families, improved diagnostic reach (36% major and 41% minor congenital heart disease in the study), avoided 75% of unnecessary transfers and delivered a mean saving of £728 per patient.

Clark Clinic / Children’s Heartbeat Trust

Frank Casey

Consultant Pediatrician