LIJ Medical Ctr. Introduces Remote-Control Physician Robots to Monitor Patients in Intensive Care Unit, Consult with Surgical Patients After Hours
March 16, 2007
In an unprecedented event, three “remote-rounding” robots held a news conference today at LIJ Medical Center to discuss how physicians are using them to consult with patients, family members and healthcare staff in real time, at a moment’s notice—even when the doctors are miles away from the hospital.
The reaction of patients and families to the robots has been extremely positive. In a study led by Louis Kavoussi, MD, chairman of urology at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, and the nation’s first user of the remote rounding robot, half the patients preferred a “tele-rounding” visit by their own doctor to a “real” visit by another physician. Over 80 percent of the patients felt that the robot increased physician accessibility. “Patients have been extraordinarily receptive and enthusiastic about the robot,” said Dr Kavoussi, who is using one of the three robots at LIJ to check on his patients after hours and on weekends. LIJ’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is home to the hospital’s two other robots. The hospital’s intensivists – physicians who specialize in the care of critically ill patients --use the robots from their homes and offices to provide additional monitoring of ICU patients. Studies show that the intensivists’ presence in the ICU results in better patient outcomes by decreasing morbidity, mortality, length of stay and cost of care. Because intensivists are familiar with complications that may occur, they are the specialists who are best qualified to minimize errors in the ICUs. However, there is a significant shortage of intensivists, with fewer than 6,000 practicing in the United States today -- at a time when more than five million Americans are being admitted to ICUs every year.
The robots are manufactured by Santa Barbara, CA-based InTouch Health©. Media Contact: Adina Conn 516-465-2620 (office)/516-724-3684 (cell) |
