8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A P R I L 2 0 2 0
A
lexa is already talked to like a
member of the family in some
households. Someday, these vir-
tual assistants might act like
members of your surgical team.
You'll be able to ask them for reports on pre-op
tests instead of the weather, call up MRI scans
instead of calling your spouse and add items to
medical records instead of shopping lists. There
are significant barriers to overcome before
smart speakers are commonplace in ORs, but
the interactions you have with them in your
kitchen provide a glimpse into how the technol-
ogy could be used during surgery.
Useful feedback
Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital are
exploring ways smart speakers can improve
efficiencies and reduce human error by help-
ing surgical teams do their jobs better and
easier. Sarah Lindenauer, director of innova-
tion and a digital health accelerator at Boston
Children's, and her colleagues observed surgi-
cal teams in action to assess how the use of a
smart speaker could fit into their normal work-
Daniel Cook | Editor-in-Chief
• SPEAKING OF SURGERY Voice assistants have the potential to improve patient safety and the
accuracy of intraoperative documentation.
Talk About Progress
Smart speakers could someday improve communications in the OR.
