How Medical Robotics Affect Healthcare Costs And Patient Safety

Robotics can be virtual and/or mechanical objects that we use in everyday activities. Even though robots have been around since 1960’s. In the healthcare field we have become more dependent upon them since the 1980 's. Robots have been used to assist people in varies everyday task in laboratories and operating rooms. Some examples their usage are intervention with giving medication, assisting kids with autism, transferring and lifting patients. Although robots have made some of the healthcare fields task easier there can be questions with such technology which can impact ethical policy and non-human touch.

Further to this is the use of robotics in the clinical workforce as a tool to improve efficiency. Robots can vary in their degree of decision making, which ranges from them being autonomous to being teleoperated. They typically function through

In today’s time of demand and supply of healthcare needs, organizations must discover or improve services that can meet the needs of patients’ whole at the same time generating revenue as well as achieving high standards for quality of care. One way organizations have done this is by investing in robotic systems to carry out a range of surgeries. In the following presentation I will discuss the topics of: Investing in the MAKO RIO Robotic System, The Utilization of the RIO Robotic System, Stakeholders

With new developments in technology in healthcare also comes with great responsibility from an ethical standpoint. Decisions can be difficult, ethically when taking into consideration of the life, health or amount of money needed for the type of care given to a patient. Here are a few examples of medical technology perceptions that have changed of the last decade ethically:

According to UC Davis Heath System, Debra Johnson, a sixty-year-old woman diagnosed with endometrial cancer, had to undergo robotic-assisted surgery from a Surgical Doctor, Gary Leisoerowiz, from UC Davis Medical Center in 2006 (UC Davis Health System). Debra went though with the surgery and received positive results including a fast recovery, no severe scars, and cancer free (UC Davis Health System). However, in a different case involving robotic surgical device used on a patient thing went horribly wrong. According to the Daily News and the article, “Surgical robot da Vinci scrutinized by FDA after Death, Other Surgical Nightmares”, Juan Fernandez died during

The demand for success encourages us to develop paths that matches our human identities. As technology continues to advance, there is a greater emphasis regarding the power of attachment. Humans are slowly becoming more attached and dependent on technology. Individuals lose their values among technology because it affects every aspect of their lives. For instance, our reliance on the Global Positioning System to find a particular destination or even a simple Google search for defining a vocabulary word illustrates that technology will always be there for us. However, the advancement of technology brings on many unethical and moral issues throughout the world. The intake of drugs and many surgical operations all proceed with one mindset: to save patients and better improve their well-being. Today, surgeons and psychiatrists have taken account to embrace radical changes with the merging of technology. The aspect of our humanness comes to an extent whether it addresses death or mental illness. In Lauren Slater’s essay, “Who Holds the Clicker?” the advancement of medical technologies helps a patient, Mario Della Grotta to overcome obsessive-compulsive disorder better known as OCD. Mario is one of the first American psychiatric patients to undergo psychosurgery. In Sherry Turkle’s essay “Alone Together,” there is an intimate connection between humans and robots through technology. Our authenticity to stand by embracing these so-called humanity changes can be controversial and

Medical technology encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and is used to diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases or medical conditions that affect humans. This may included but not limited too, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of healthcare delivered through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times. Recent advances in medical technology have also focused on cost reduction. Medical technology may include medical devices, information technology, biotech, and healthcare services. The impacts of medical technology may involve social and ethical issues. For example physicians may seek objective information from technology rather than listening to subjective patient reports. A major contributor of healthcare expenditure in America is the advancement of medical technology. According to several studies it is shown that there is a correlation between the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and money allocated to healthcare. One of the leading theories is that medical technology is growing faster than expected.

Imagine a place where robots can not only decrease mistakes, but it can also save many lives during dangerous and high risk surgeries. I have had friends and family have these procedures done, and it was helpful and successful. Telerobotic surgeries are helpful, it prevents less to no mistakes, less deaths, and makes procedures easier.

As technology improves, surgical robots are rapidly gaining support among both doctors and patients across America. Today more than 900 hospitals have the da Vinci robot which is double the number in 2007. (Freyer, 2010) Da Vinci robots were first approved by the FDA in 2000 for prostate removal, but now da Vinci robots are used for a variety of other surgical procedures (Freyer, 2010). Robot assisted surgery offers advantages such as smaller incisions, reduced blood loss, less pain and faster healing time (Vijay, 2010), as well as making surgery less demanding for the surgeon. Robotic surgery involves many obvious advantages but the impact of cost, access, and quality must

Imagine, you have to take your sick mother to a busy city hospital where there are thousands of people waiting to be treated. In the emergency room triage, the computer evaluates your mom’s condition and notifies you that she is not eligible for treatment. It tells you to take her back. How would you feel that moment? In the article “Medical Technology and Ethical Issues,” William E. Thompson and Joseph V. Hickey discuss about the sociological and ethical consequences of innovative medical technology used in hospitals. Technology today affects every single aspect of modern society and technological breakthroughs are revolutionizing the way it is used; as a consequence, it has created debate about how it should be

The 21st century can rightfully be considered as the era of technology when the new inventions and discoveries will most likely affect all the segments of human life. At this point, some of the breakthrough inventions of our times have been in the medical field. Robotic surgery has become an almost common practice in the advanced medical world and new uses for robotic assisted surgery are everyday set in place. However, such developments also attract different interests and implications.

Today, robots are utilized to execute highly specific, precise, and dangerous tasks in industry and research previously not possible with a human work force. We depend on robots to build our cars, land our planes, and operate at a level of precision and accuracy with dedicated motions scalable in speed and force unreachable for human beings. Oxford Dictionaries define robots as “A machine capable of automatically carrying out a complex series of movements, especially one which is programmable.” The use of robots to assist in performing surgical procedures has been developed over the past 20 years, and current robotic systems are quickly being introduced to the

There are many concerns and questions that may arise from robotics in medicine. Here is a short list of some hot-button topics in the current environment of healthcare.

Technology is transforming the medical field with the design of robotic devices and multifaceted imaging. Even though these developments have made operations much less invasive, robotic systems have their own disadvantages that prevent them from replacing surgeons all together. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a broad notion encompassing a lot of common procedures that existed prior to the introduction of robots. It refers to general procedures that keep away from long cuts by entering the body through small, usually about 1cm, entry incisions, through which surgeons use long-handled instruments to operate on tissue inside the body. Such operations are directed by viewing equipment and, therefore, do not automatically need the use of a robot. Yet, it is not incorrect to say that computer-assisted and robotic surgeries are categories that fall under minimally invasive surgery (Robotic Surgery, n.d.).

The beginning use of surgical robots within medical setting benefits the surgeon as well as the patient; it gives the da Vinci Surgical System a bright future within today’s society.