The Center for Body Computing at the University of Southern California, together with eight partners, has launched its Virtual Care Clinic (VCC) to provide on-demand services to anyone with a smartphone.

Initially, the VCC will offer care in ophthalmology and urology with select Keck Medicine physicians and researchers. Going forward, the plan is to include all physicians and researchers, as well as to expand to other areas.

Among the VCC partners are such firms as Proteus Digital Health, AliveCor, Doctor Evidence and VSP Global.“Our Virtual Care Clinic is not only the democratization of health care allowing anyone access to our medical experts without leaving their home, but it also capitalizes on the promise that digital health is supposed to offer,” Dr. Leslie Saxon, Center for Body Computing Executive Director and head of cardiovascular research, said in a statement.

The goal, according to Saxon, is to empower patients, improve quality outcomes with more precision medicine analytics and diagnosis, and enhance the physician-patient relationship. This will be accomplished by creating a “contextualized experience and seamless communication that puts the patient in the driver seat of their own healthcare experience and outcomes,” he added.

Among the VCC partners are such firms as smart pill-maker Proteus Digital Health, smartphone ECG developer AliveCor and vision care company VSP Global, which is putting monitoring devices in eyeglasses as part of its Project Genesis. The initiative is also supported by the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, medical information provider Doctor Evidence, prescriber data giant IMS Health, Karten Design, and video production company Planet Grande.

[Via: MedCityNews]