A P R I L 2 0 1 5 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 6 3
So the devices could confirm the correct surgical site?
Absolutely. They bring the pre-op safety checklist to you. You can be looking at a
virtual reality platform in front of your field of view that tells you where to cut or
inject. The functional use of the technology is limitless — all it takes is creativity
and imagination.
You once said that technology has the potential to
disrupt health care, but in a good way. What did you mean?
The more you disrupt the status quo, the more obstruction you get from adminis-
tration and elsewhere. But that's what we need. I'm a full-time surgeon, so I'm
not talking from the theoretical point of view. I live it every single day. I know
how much our healthcare system has to offer. It's one of the best in the world,
yet we still have 400,000 or more patients die each year because of preventable
medical errors.
Technology is nice, but the skills of the surgical team still matter, right?
Of course. People talk about computers taking the place of doctors in the
future. I doubt that will literally happen. Technology is a complementation, not a
substitution. All computing devices are going to improve what we do, which is
what we need in health care.
Will it take the younger generation of healthcare professionals
who grew up with smart technology to realize its full potential in the OR?
No, I think we're at an inflection point now. The way technology has advanced,
and will continue to do so, means we're going to see unbelievable exponential
development in the next 5 years. Patients will start to demand improved tech-
nology in their care, and when that starts happening, innovation will be faster.
— Daniel Cook
