Can Robots Improve Patient Care in the ICU?

July 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Contact: Vicki Cohn, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., (914) 740-2100, vcohn@liebertpub.com

Can Robots Improve Patient Care in the ICU?

New Rochelle, NY— Remote presence robots are used in intensive care units (ICUs) to help critical care physicians supplement on-site patient visits and maintain more frequent patient interactions. Physicians who employ this technology to supplement day-to-day patient care strongly support the positive clinical and social impact of using robots, according to a report published in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com) The article is available free on the Telemedicine and e-Health website (http://www.liebertpub.com/tmj).

"The integration of robotics in healthcare adds value to patient care and management of an individual’s health,” says Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal and Research Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The survey article entitled “Utilization of Robotic ‘Remote Presence’ Technology within
North American Intensive Care Units” (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/hum.2011...) was conducted by investigators at InTouch Health (Santa Barbara, CA) and the Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore), found that most of the physicians utilizing robotic remote presence in the ICU were more senior staff who specialized in critical care medicine. The authors report that all survey respondents intend to continue using the technology and believe that it improves patient care and patient and family satisfaction.

About the Journal
Telemedicine and e-Health (http://www.liebertpub.com/tmj) is an official journal of the American Telemedicine Association, the Canadian Telehealth Forum of COACH, and the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth. Edited by Ronald C. Merrell, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and Charles Doarn, MBA. Telemedicine and e-Health is the leading international, peer-reviewed journal combining medicine, telecommunications, and information technology. Published 10 times a year in print and online, the Journal covers telemedicine applications that are playing an increasingly important role in health care and provides tools that are indispensable for home health care, remote patient monitoring, and disease management. It encompasses not only rural health and battlefield care, but nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and maritime and aviation applications. A sample table of contents and free issue may be viewed on the Telemedicine and e-Health website (http://www.liebertpub.com/tmj).

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (http://www.liebertpub.com)  is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Population Health Management and Journal of Laparoendoscopic Surgery and Advanced Surgical Techniques. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available online at the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website (http://www.liebertpub.com).