Robotic Telemetry Expands Patient Care Options for Small Hospitals Throughout Cali

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Sep 30, 2008

From California Healthline

In a California Healthline Special Report, doctors, nurses and robotic specialists discussed the value of robotic telemetry in intensive care settings. About 20 hospitals in California use the new technology.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Jim Gude, intensive care physician in Northern California;

Ben Kanter, chief of staff at Pomerado Hospital in Escondido;

Valerie Takes, nursing manager at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol; and

Yulun Wang, CEO of InTouch Health, maker of the RP-7 robot.

The RP-7 robot system costs between $4,000 and $8,000 a month to lease, depending on quantity and duration of the contract. At Pomerado Hospital in Escondido, the robot is used to conduct teaching rounds as well as to interact with patients and families.

"The return on investment of the robot is not just measured in dollars," said Pomerado's Kanter.

"The patients and families uniformly love the device," Kanter added. "It's a much better way to communicate with the doctor when the doctor's not in the hospital. When the family shows up there at ten o'clock at night, they can actually see me face to face" (Kennedy, California Healthline, 9/25).