Orthopedic Center: Invest or Not to Invest in a Robotic System and Impacts to the Patient-Physician Relationship

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.

Stakeholders are a big part of a healthcare organization. They play a major role in the Healthcare Delivery System that plays a part in the performance and the health of the organization. Five of the major stakeholders consist of government, providers (which includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers), patients, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies. Based off of the healthcare delivery system where it stands now, there are some recommendations that the stakeholder can do to have a positive effect on the healthcare delivery system.

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

In healthcare the stakeholders are key element of the organization. The stakeholders are the Providers, Payers, Employers and Patients. The stakeholders are individuals with some stake or concern in the process. The customers want the lowest rate and the highest quality of provision. The employers want job security, a decent workplace and benefits. The corporation desires to see the highest revenue for the lowest total cost.

It has been proven that stakeholders, either an individual or an health care organization play a key role within strategic implementations and policy developments

Mobility grants opportunity and lifelong experiences through the gift of exploration and independence. Without autonomy of movement in one’s life, there are struggles accompanied by frustration do to the lack of freedom and ability. It is an orthopedic surgeon’s job to bring function to one’s life even if they have never been granted movement without restraint before. Orthopedic surgeons receive patients whose freedom of movement have been compromised and then return it back to them. Orthopedic surgeons give immeasurable opportunities and life experiences back to their patients because of their perseverance and commitment to their patients and careers.

When talking about healthcare reform, one must always think about the stakeholders. Stakeholders are “people and organizations that have a stake (interest) in what a healthcare organization does and that could affect the healthcare organization” (Olden, 2011). There are many different stakeholders in our case study but we will focus on the main ones.

A stakeholder is a “person with an interest or concern in something, esp. a business” (dictionary.com). The healthcare systems has many stakeholders such as the public, employers, providers, hospitals and other health care facilities, governments, alternative therapies, and voluntary facilities and agencies. All these stakeholders hold an important role in the health care system they are the ones that can make it or break it. The role of a stakeholder is to ensure successful quality improvement in healthcare. All of the different stakeholders can make a huge impact and help

Included in the discussion of their cultures we will also touch on the way some countries feel about these types of technology. It will be important for us to also talk about the environment. Then, finally, we must talk about both the moral and ethical aspects of using robots to perform surgery. By researching and reporting these things, it is our desire for everyone to not only have a better understanding of the technology, but to consider it as an alternate source, if needed in the future. It is technology like robotic assisted surgery that will help us have the long, healthy lives we all desire.

With a complex health system such as HUMC and other hospitals that offers services that are based on the continuum of care concept, there are critical issues among stakeholders. A stakeholder is “a person or group that has an investment, share, or interest in something, as a business or industry” (Dictionary.com, 2010).

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.

The Da Vinci Surgical System is a large purpose-built robot controlled by a surgeon that performs minimally invasive surgical procedures on patients. The system incorporates an ergonomically designed surgeon's console, a patient-side module with four interactive robotic arms, each with interchangeable surgical instruments and a 3-dimensional endoscopic vision system. Powered by high-tech supercomputers, the surgeon's hand movements are scaled, filtered and then converted into precise movements of the surgical attachments. The designers of the system are a team of doctors, engineers and biomedical engineers at a company called Intuitive Surgical.

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 medical field has revolutionized the health and well being of society. Throughout the decades, the medical field has been through sweeping changes that leave society astonished. It seems like each year that passes by, there is a new technological advancement that modernizes the medical field. Not only do these advancements modernize medicine, but they in return aid doctors, nurses, and specialists by improving their effectiveness within the field. About ten years ago, the da Vinci Surgical System was introduced to hospitals and the medical field, in general because the FDA had finally approved the system within the United States (Dunkin). The da Vinci Surgical System, also known basically as robotic surgery, introduced the use of a

Internal stakeholders participate in the coordination, funding, resourcing and publication of the strategy from a local health and well-being partnership, the local primary care trust and the local authority; External stakeholders are engaged in contributing their views and experiences in addressing the issues that are important to them as patients, service users, careers and members of the local community.