Catiany Ott

English 3

Professor Rowley

April 30, 2013

The Enhancing of Technology in Hospitals

In the past years technology has made a big impact in hospitals. Now doctors have options to either do a surgery with their own hands or use a machine to do it for them. Some people might see this as a big advantage because now medical procedures can be done faster. On the other hand, the idea that hospitals are integrating more advance technology is causing patients to have fewer interactions with their doctors. The typical doctor visits will eventually become a patient in front of a touch screen computer with different questions displaying trying to diagnose a patient. The fact that artificial intelligence will increase during the years worries patients and puts in danger a doctor’s ability to perform any kind medical procedure. Although hospitals are increasing the use of technology to make patients’ experiences go smoother and faster, it is actually preventing doctors from having more contact with the patient. This is problematic because it may lead to misdiagnosis, unhappy patients and make doctors’ job obsolete.

            The use of advanced technology to perform surgeries can leave the patient’s life at risk. The fact that doctors now have machines, such as the procedure called Laparoscopic surgery can make patients uncomfortable because they’re being operated by a machine instead of a human.. The use of the laparoscopic procedure is for patients with gallstone disease. The way this procedure works by is that it performs surgeries by itself without the intervention of surgeons, which can be dangerous for the patient. It is supposed to be good because it is quick and causes the patient to recover faster because the incision made in the patient’s stomach is a lot smaller than what the surgeon does. But Valerie Scott, a family medicine doctor said, “It is still a major surgery” that can take weeks for the patient to recover. With or without the laparoscopic procedure the patient will end up having the same time to recover as if it was done by a surgeon. While a human surgeon will know how to react in emergencies, the robotic procedure is automatically engineered to just get the surgery done. Some surgeons argue that this procedure can be less invasive in a human body but in other circumstances it can be a detriment to the body.  Kristin McMahon argues that “the lack of familiarity with the procedure, decreased visibility and unfamiliar instruments [lead] to new and different complications.”  Summing it up, the machine is not equipped with emergency tools that can in fact save the patient’s life. Something can always go wrong and without the visibility of what is going on inside the patient’s body, the surgeon can’t do anything, causing even the death of the patient. The way these procedures are conducted does not secure a patient in the operation room.

            The introduction of new technology has become a real issue to patients who need special attention and desire a more “patient-physician” relationship. Doctors’ effective communications skills are fading away due to the new inventions like telephones and e-mails. Now more doctors are currently using emails to communicate with their patients that are probably too busy to visit a doctor and for the doctor who is too busy to see their patient. The use of phones and email used to be for brief things until it started to be implemented in business areas. Now, it’s our primary form of communication in the medical field.  This can cause a lack of the good communication skills that can be beneficial in a patient-physician relationship. While doctors have found this to be a good way to multi-task, it is actually preventing a patient from feeling cared for. In the article, “Are We Ready for Virtual Physicians?” author Julie Connelly states that “Compatibility between the personality of the physician and that of the patient may form the ‘glue’ that allows the relationship to endure the inevitable awkward moments.” What she is trying to say is that while doctors give advice through their emails and phone calls, their actual personality isn’t being displayed by the linear communication that new technology brings. When a patient is face-to-face with their doctors, they can see how much attention they are putting into their health issues, while on the phone the doctor may be talking to them but at the same time analyzing someone else’s health issues.

            Another reason why the advancement of technology in hospitals is a detriment to patients experience is because it is increasing health care costs. Implementing expensive technology gives a rise to high costs of health care, making it difficult for people to afford being seen by a doctor. In the article “The Impact of Economics on Changing Medical Technology” Dr. Eric Bloomfield argues that “…the technology itself may be the incentive to use more health care interventions, resulting in increased investments without a corresponding improvement in outcome”(419). The use of new technology is just increasing the costs of health care and it is not causing good outcomes. For example, the “Halfway technology” which is technology that does not bring a cure to a patient, is an inventions that is made to support the patient through their ailments, but in no way does it give the patient a cure. For example, hemodialysis, a treatment that works as a kidney to patients when their kidney isn’t functioning anymore. The result of Halfway-tech is death because it is just supporting the patient for a while but it does not provide a permanent resolution. Expensive technology like those who cannot completely cure a person causes health insurance cost to increase.        
            Doctor’s knowledge can be replaced by so much new technology, causing a doctor to be useless around hospitals. In the healthcare industry, doctors are in control of what goes on with their patients and when they are equipped with new technology they just become a person in charge, not the doctor who is trying to make a difference.

Important administrations that are protecting the health of the people have approved of telemedicine, the use of machines to diagnose a patient when they are far away. The fact that the Food and Drug Administration has let this type of technology into hospitals gives an idea that doctors are going to be replaced by robots. The people that control the medicine in hospitals should not let robots take over hospitals because it will result in ineffective outcomes like the human-interaction that we have today.      

The use of technology in hospitals may in some way be helpful to patients, but is it at the same time affecting both the patient and the doctor in a negative way. Doctors become useless and patients uncomfortable with the use of all the new technology being put into hospitals. A good way to take advantage of the new inventions in technology should be to increase the good outcomes in all patients by creating innovative medicine that can cure the worst diseases. Instead, hospitals are approaching this new technology in a way that is almost replacing the jobs of doctors and comfort-ability of a patient in hospitals. The interaction between a doctor and patient is more beneficial because it brings effective diagnosis that a robot won’t be able to do.

Works Cited

Bloomfield, Eric L. Anesthesia & analgesia. Review Article. 2003. 96: 418-25. Web. April 22,      2013.

Connelly, Julie. "Are We Ready for Virtual Physicians?" The Hastings Center Report Jan.-Feb.     2004: 6. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

McMahon, Kristin. “Healthcare Technology’s Impact on Medical Malpractice.” Journal Article.    1-3. Web. April 22, 2013.

Pirtle, Jennifer. "Stressing Yourself Sick." ABA Journal 92 (2006): 35-40. ProQuest. Web. 30       Apr. 2013.

Scott, Valerie. The Causes and Symptoms of Gallstone Disease. Life123.com. April 21, 2013.       Web.