A patient enters a hospital room, sits down and begins talking to a doctor. Only in this case the doctor is a hologram.
It may sound like science fiction, but for some patients at Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster, Texas, it’s reality.
In May, the hospital group began offering patients the ability to see their doctor remotely as a hologram through a partnership with Holoconnects, a Netherlands-based digital technology company.
Each Holobox — the company’s name for its 440-pound, 7-foot-tall device that displays highly realistic live 3D video of a person on a screen — costs $42,000, plus a $1,900 annual service fee.
The high-quality image gives the patient the feeling that a doctor is sitting in the box, when in reality the doctor is miles away, looking into cameras and displays showing the patient.
The system allows the patient and doctor to have a real-time telemedicine visit that feels more like an in-person conversation. Currently, the service is primarily used for pre- and post-operative visits.
Crescent Regional leaders, who plan to expand the service to traditional appointments, believe it will improve the remote patient experience.
“Physicians can have a very different impact on the patient,” said Raji Kumar, managing partner and chief executive officer of Crescent Regional. “Patients feel like the doctor is there.”
But experts are skeptical that a hologram visit is significantly better than 2D telemedicine options like Zoom or FaceTime.
In medicine, technological advances are judged by whether they can improve access to health care, reduce its cost or improve its quality, Dr. Eric Bressman, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I don’t know of any data to support the idea that this would improve the quality of the visit beyond a standard telemedicine visit,” said Dr. Bressman, who has expertise in digital medicine.
Ms. Kumar said a hologram improves the telemedicine experience through, among other things, the large screen and sophisticated camera that allow a doctor to see the patient’s entire body, useful for assessing characteristics such as gait or range of motion.
The camera could be particularly useful in a physical therapy setting, Dr. Chad Ellimoottil, the medical director of virtual care for the University of Michigan Health System.
Some of the hologram’s benefits are less tangible, but still significantly improve the patient experience, said Steve Sterling, managing director of Holoconnects’ North American division.
“We will not impact patient outcomes,” Mr. Sterling said. “But what we are already achieving is a sense of engagement between doctors and patients.”
While Mr. Sterling said Crescent Regional was the first hospital application for the Holobox, hospitality services are using the technology more frequently.
Twelve hotels have a Holobox and there are plans to install the system at 18 more locations, Mr. Sterling said.
Dr. Ellimoottil believes this technology is more suitable for the hospitality industry than the medical sector. Telemedicine allows patients to meet a doctor from home, but patients using the Holobox system would still have to travel to an office.
In addition to concerns about a lack of improvement in the quality and accessibility of care, price is also an issue.
Currently, $42,000 plus a $1,900 annual fee is not a cost-saving service. But Ms Kumar said she was fine with it.
“It’s not about generating revenue,” she said. “It’s more about patient quality, engagement and providing a better service to the patient. We give them more comfort.”
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2024-06-29 22:37:56
www.nytimes.com
