"outsourcing" surgery!

[wellstone_democrat]

Amazingly enough, while watching a local news "medical" segment the other night in a motel (i'm traveling right now) I was stunned to hear the following. It seems that "robotic" surgery is coming and coming fast. The benefits are twofold: eliminates the slight tremor or movement in delicate operations and a "specialist can operate from any distance---especially good when no surgeon is in a particular location." The bubble-headed-blonde-hairdo then squealed about how this would undoubtedly save money "right Bob?" to the medical reporter. Yep, says he, surgeons can do this from any location by remote so they can do more surgery each day as they don't have to "suit up" (yeah, that was his term), disinfect themselves, or stand on their feet for long stretches. Thus, more operations per day. Expect it within the next five years as training is already well underway

Tell me that things like this ---often pointed to as something that *cannot* be outsourced to India, etc.--- will not prove to be "more profitable" for for-profit medical providers. Instead of "call centers" we will have "surgery centers."

[mgc1961]

1. I saw something...

...on a program the other day about x-rays being being transmitted to India for analysis and the resulting analysis then being tranmitted back to the U.S..

Putting aside the lost jobs for a moment, who here has misgivings about remote surgery besides me? I hope there's a least a nurse there. I mean really, we have a second pilot on commercial airlines (at least for now). Oops, I forgot, there's a nurse shortage. I guess it'll be self-serve post operative recovery too.

"Just swipe your credit card in the reader sir, we'll be right with you." (beep)

[wellstone_democrat]

4. the nursing situation is dire as well

we hear alot about a "shortage" but here in my west Texas city they are not hiring (in fact they laid some off in the past year) but when I had minor surgery last summer, it was clear that there was a shortage. I saw ONE nurse up in the OP suite but I had a "ward clerk" and a "nurse's aid" (according to their name badges. Who did all the pre op. A technician put in the IV, when it clogged up, the CNA called a nurse from elsewhere and it took an hour for someone to come. Said the nurse to my husband: "there are only three of us on this floor to cover fifty patients.

We took the "go home that day" option rather than stay over night. This, by the way, is the largest hospital in the entire region.

There is little I'm finding that they cannot "outsource" with digitalization or robotics.

[mgc1961]

5. That's surprising.

Maybe the administrator is using the "shortage" as a ruse to pump up profits with "ward clerks."

[kcwayne]

2. GE has been advertising this concept for about 5 years

Only in their ads, its an American surgeon providing care for a poor child in a third world country. But of course that can't happen, because they have not perfected the mechanism for getting the insurance card from 3 year olds whose parents are members of a hunter-gatherer tribe.

The analysis of X-Rays and CAT scans is replacing $200K per year radiologists with $20K per year equivalents in India already. So its certainly coming.

The only reason it won't come is because by the time they work out the quirks and figure out who gets to make most of the money, there will be a much smaller market of people who can afford surgery, and some politician like Orin Hatch will get payed off to raise the quotas on H1B visa programs so that they can bring the doctors from India here for 2 cents on the dollar, and then not have to invest in all that fancy equipment.

[cosmicdot]

3. we found someone, who'll do it for $20 ... and, we can still bill

the customer $3000 + long distance charge and satellite up/link time ... no charge for any downtime or rain fade ...

[tjwash]

6. Come on people, outsourcing is GOOD for you...

...according to head numb nut conservi-nazi cheerleader George Will, who I am convinced tosses off to pictures of W* in his flight suit.

"Recently, Indiana Gov. Joseph Kernan canceled a $15 million contract with a firm in India for processing state unemployment claims. The contract was given to a U.S. firm that will charge $23 million. Because of this 50 percent price increase, there will be $8 million fewer state dollars for schools, hospitals, law enforcement, etc."

First of all, irony aside that the very people in India processing state unemployment claims would have been partly responsible for the very unemployment claims they are processing, I don't think Will has a grasp on how an economy actually works. People in our country work. They make money. They buy houses and buy merchandise with that money. Housing markets improve, manufacturing orders increase, factories hire more people. We seem to be slowly returning to a system of feudal lords, and serfdom, and if the citizens of the US won't play, they will simply move them to overseas sweatshops.

[Gin]

7. If that comes to pass..and I think it will...god help the person being

operated on if the satellite fails...then what?

[Sotarr2004]

8. A few TECHNICAL quibbles

. . . outsource it, to, say, India, and you're going to have lag problems due to transmission delays.

I can certainly see robotic surgeons and control suites in the same hospital, the same town, even, but not any significant distance away.

In most cases, I suspect the surgeon would be in the next ROOM. . .

[newyawker99]

11. Hi Sotarr2004!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Viking12]

9. The threat of outsourcing

more white-collar jobs might actually help get people to do something about the blue-collar folks that are currently getting stiffed the worst.

Imagine if the "markets" were opened up so white collar workers had to compete with off-shore accountants, economists, dcotors, journalists, etc.. that would do their jobs for 1/3 the wage. Right now these occupations are not subject to "efficiency" of WTO or NAFTA, but imagine the outcry if the free-traders were consistent in their beleifs & they opened the borders and let everyone compete for those jobs.

[kcwayne]

10. Your wish has come true

Accounting is being outsourced.
So are radiologists, lawyers, financial analysts, IT, and engineers.

And the ratio is more like 1/10 than 1/3.