On May 19, Josie, Opie and Chip began their first day of work at St. Joseph Health System's Kentucky hospitals.
But these three will not be filing out forms and 1099s as usual for new staff. They are not typical employees - they're robots. They were named as part of a contest held at each of the seven hospitals in St. Joseph's Kentucky system during the last several weeks. "Josie" is named after St. Joseph, "Opie" stands for "On-line Patient Information Exchange," and "Chip" for "Catholic Health Initiatives Personal Physician." Four other robots are in the process of being named.
"People have had a lot of fun," said Joe Dannaher, project manager for clinical robots for St. Joseph Health System. "Initially, across the board, the robots gave people a certain 'wow' factor," he said. "After seeing how they work, people really got engaged. Many groups such as specialists, pharmacists and other staff started discussing possible uses for them."
The robots will provide support resources to outlying hospitals, allowing greater access to specialists, technologies and support staff, Dannaher said. They will also provide doctors who may not be in the hospital at the time with access to patients.
"This was a perfect time for us to move into this technology," said Jeff Murphy, regional director of communications and marketing. "In January, we became a seven-hospital system in Kentucky. Our goal is to spread opportunity for high-quality care to patients and families across all seven facilities."
St. Joseph Health Systems include hospitals in Bardstown, Berea, London, Martin, Mount Sterling and Lexington.
"It has been proven that patients have a better healing process if they can stay near home," he said. "The robots may provide access, particularly to specialists, that the hospital in a smaller community does not usually have."
For example, St. Joseph's in Martin does not have a neurologist on staff. Use of the robots could allow for an assessment by a specialist in Lexington to check on a patient, Murphy said.
The robots are equally useful in providing supplemental rounding by physicians, Murphy said. Physicians often make hospital rounds early in the morning. The robots allow physicians to make rounds again later in the day and even at night. The robots are considered supplemental and do not replace any staff.
Dannaher describes the 5 1/2-foot-tall robots as "essentially a tele-video conferencing tool." Each robot has a video screen instead of a face and both wide-screen and focused cameras. The robots allow for two-way conversation between the doctor, who may be in his office or at home, and the patient.
Use of the robots in other hospital systems has often proven to reduce the length of stay, Dannaher said. The interaction allowed by the robots can improve the quality of care, particularly after certain types of surgery.
The robot rolls on three wheels and is accompanied by a nurse or other staff in the patient's room. The doctor, utilizing a computer joystick, drives the robot remotely. When not in use, the robot is returned to a docking station to recharge, usually located near the nurse's station. While the robot does not have arms, it does have hook-ups for medical devices, including a stethoscope and ultrasound sensor. Through the robot, for example, the doctor while in a location outside the hospital can actually listen to the patient's heart.
The St. Joseph's System is a member of the Catholic Health Initiatives and received funding for the robots through their research branch, Dannaher said. The robots are manufactured by In-Touch Health Technologies in Santa Barbara, Calif., and are leased by St. Joseph's.
The robots at St. Joseph's are RP-7s, according to Jennifer Neisse, a representative for In-Touch. This seventh version of Remote Presence, or RP, robot uses a secured wireless Internet connection to provide physicians with access, she said. The physician, seated at a computer control station can connect with the robot in an emergency room or patient room. The physician can be at home, in an office, or even in the airport.
The robot can be particularly helpful in emergency outreach, she said. For example, in the case of a stroke, there may be a very short window of opportunity for a patient to receive certain types of medication. With the RP-7 robot, an outlying hospital can beam in a specialist immediately, she said. In-Touch monitors the St. Joseph's robots 24 hours a day.
There are approximately 200 RP-7 robots used in the United States. Italy, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom are among the international users. Neisse said projections are for 300 robots in the United States next year. University of Louisville's hospital launched Kentucky's first robot network in November 2007.
While St. Joseph Health Systems currently have one RP-7 robot for each hospital in Kentucky, it is possible they could add more next year, Murphy said. "For many hospitals that use the robots, usage is one per floor," he said. The robots currently do not climb stairs.
That doesn't mean they're not ready to rumble. After reporting for work May 19, each robot will be given a miniature Kentucky license plate, complete with its new name.