Robotic Doctors?

[hock1]

The hospital where I work is seriously considering computerized,moveable robots with 20 inch screens. The doctor and patient can see and hear each other. Does anybody have experience with these? How can a patient be assessed by visual/verbal alone? Obviously the robot cannot completely replace hands on, but it seems a little freaky to me.

[SmilingBluEyes]

VERY freaky. No experience here.

[jemb]

A few months ago, I saw some info on this robot and its functions. I thought it would be a good thing for the patients who need to talk to the doctor, but whose doctor makes rounds at midnight when the patient is asleep.

If it is the same one that I saw (allows the patient to have an interaction with the doctor from a remote location), it would be great for the patient to ask all those questions that they want the nurse to call the doc for one- at a time. That way, they can get clarification, and the doc can ask additional questions as needed also. I hate it when the patient has me call the doc about a specific thing and the doc asks me questions that are unrelated for which I have no answer, or the patient upon my returning to the room, adds info which would have been helpful. This would give them interaction instead of the nurse being stuck in the middle.

I don't think it was ever intended to be a substitute for an actual in person exam, but as an addition for those in between times.

[Genista, BSN, RN]

I heard about this on the radio the other day. I don't think it should replace face to face contact, but it might be a helpful new technology. It is supposed to make it easier for docs to "round" on their patients that may be geographically diverse. It can be difficult to round on patients if a doc has privileges at several different facilities. Keep us posted on how it works out! I hear a few teaching hospitals already have them in use & the patients seem to have accepted the robots as doctor stand-ins so far.