How does technology improve service operations and health-care outcomes?

"Using robots to perform surgery once seemed like a futuristic fantasy, but not anymore. An estimated 1.5 million robotic procedures have been performed by the da Vinci Surgical System according to its creator, Intuitive Surgical. So what accounts for the surge in robotic surgeries? Some preliminary studies suggest improved outcomes for patients. Surgeons who use the da Vinci Surgical System find that patients have less blood loss and pain, lower risks of complications, shorter hospital stays, and quicker recovery times than those who have open surgery—or even, in some cases, laparoscopic procedures that are also performed through multiple small incisions. In October 2005, Dr. Francis Sutter, chief of cardiology at the Heart Center at Lankenau Hospital near Philadelphia, did the first da Vinci double bypass. His patient, a 65-year-old man, had just a single two-inch incision on the left side of his chest and was walking 30 minutes a day just a week and a half after surgery. Tests show his heart function to be normal again. So what are the downsides? At a price of $1.3 million each, the cost of the robots can be a barrier. Because insurance companies pay a fixed amount for a procedure regardless of how it is performed, the hospital is left to pick up the tab for the more expensive robotic surgeries. Sutter’s center held fundraisers to help pay for the da Vinci Surgical System. And some surgeons are reluctant to commit the time necessary to learn robotic techniques. There is also a concern that once a hospital invests in such an expensive system, surgeons may feel pressured to use it and steer patients toward surgery over other treatment options. Other types of technology also improve health care. At Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, intensive-care nurses check a patient coming out of heart-bypass surgery—from a building several miles away. This is the Aurora eICU, from which a team of doctors and nurses keep constant watch on more than 10 intensive care units in four different hospitals spread across eastern Wisconsin. “The idea is not to make care more remote,” says David Rein, the unit’s medical director, “but to bring expertise to the patient’s bedside faster than we ever could before.” Monitors display vital signs and the patient’s electronic chart, with details on medications, lab tests and X-ray results, and notes on the patient’s condition. Cameras can zoom in so closely that monitoring staff can see the capillaries in a patient’s eyes. A survey recently found that patient mortality was 7.2 percent lower in hospitals that were “wired,” which has a lot of health care researchers excited. Although the survey doesn’t prove that technology causes better patient outcomes, it does show there is a strong connection. Of course, robotic surgery raises some ethical issues. Recent developments suggest ethical issues that may arise when implementing technology into health care practices. Dr. Bertalan Meskó, who wrote the book The Guide to the Future of Medicine, identified such issues, including the hacking of medical devices, defending our privacy, scanning ourselves at home (without medical guidance), how society changes if we can prolong life, and possible bioterrorism due to technological advances. Nonmanufacturing firms are also using automation to improve customer service and productivity. Banks now offer services to customers through automated teller machines (ATM), via automated telephone systems, and even over the internet. Retail stores of all kinds use point-of-sale (POS) terminals that track inventories, identify items that need to be reordered, and tell which products are selling well. Walmart, the leader in retailing automation, has its own satellite system connecting POS terminals directly to its distribution centers and headquarters."