If the pilots experienced an issue with their technology or the weather, for instance, they could manually interject, he says. But, the “vast majority of the work” goes down to automation.
Sethi serves as a clinical professor for health systems and population health and executive director of the Center for Neurosciences and Spine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Virginia Mason Medical Center. He explained his airplane and operating room analogy today at AdvaMed’s The MedTech Conference in Anaheim, California.
Sethi spoke on a panel titled “Digital is the New Frontier: Are We Stepping Into it Boldly?” (Want to find out more about digital surgery, artificial intelligence and more? Experts from Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Pristine Surgical, Asensus Surgical, Medtronic and more will discuss the topics and more at DeviceTalks West, next week in Santa Clara, California. Register here.)
“If you put yourself in an American operating room, or British, German or Japanese operating room, it doesn’t matter,” Sethi said. “That level of automation is not there. If we could use digital and automation to standardize the vast majority of processes that occur, we’re going to eliminate variability, eliminate waste and enhance the patient experience.”
For all the talk around what digital technologies can accomplish in medtech, questions remain. Christian Eusemann, VP of research and innovation and collaboration officer at Siemens Healthineers, explained that AI — at the forefront of the digital boom — elicits plenty of concern.
“We see of lot of love, yet fear, of AI,” Eusemann explained. “A lot of providers, techs, nurses, they love it. But, they also wonder, ‘What does it mean for my role? Will it minimize my position?’ Right now, I think we’re still fighting the fear aspect. What will it do to my world?”
Stryker chief weighs in on digital tech
About two-and-a-half years since Stryker established its digital robotics and enabling technologies division, Robert Cohen sees no signs of slowing down. Cohen, the president of that unit, said it began with a focus on creating enabling technology, then making it smarter.
Stryker aimed, he said on the panel, to help facilitate surgeon precision and accuracy or provide more information about the specific patient.
“As we keep evolving, if we look in the back of an ambulance, the patient room or the operating room, we look at how Stryker equipment participates in either a procedure or the care path for that patient,” Cohen said. “We look at what data assets we can use and how we bring that data back and facilitate it into the market. We see exciting times — challenging times — but we are making progress.”
Cohen explained that if he had 10 surgeons in a room about to perform 10 total knee surgeries, 10 surgeons might pick a different implant for their patient. He wryly explained that all 10 surgeons can’t be right.
The data exists, Cohen said, to help make proper decisions based on each unique patient.
“We’re in this world of individualized medicine, but we’re not there fast enough — for a number of different reasons,” he said.
The challenge remains to stitch together data in the continuum of care, Cohen explained. He wants to see predictive analytics that provide more information to the surgeon on patient care. The challenge exists because “data is everywhere.”
“Because we don’t necessarily have regulations, and everybody’s trying to figure out the rules of data acquisition and data use,” Cohen said. “That’s our biggest challenge right now.
“And if we can fix that at this meeting, that’d be awesome.”
On AI and its implementation
Cohen added that he believes the medtech industry hasn’t “done well” on the AI front. He said he sees marketing for AI as the new high-tech thing, but the implementation hasn’t followed in the right way.
“They have no idea what the heck it is. You’re selling futures. They have no idea what the heck it is, but companies want to be branded,” Cohen said of AI. “You always want to show you’re evolving and evolving faster. But, I do believe we actually made extraordinary progress.”
Sethi recalled attending a neurosurgery or spine tech meeting, and the AI section “will be jam-packed.” Yet, he says, “About half of those talks are garbage.”
“A lot of guys and gals talk about it, but they don’t really know what they’re talking about,” Sethi explained. “It’s a buzzword, and it’s a topic. But, clearly, the interest is at a very, very high level.”
Shawna Butler, a nurse economist and host of the “See You Now” podcast, said some people fear “losing their identity.” Now, suddenly, something else has the capability to do what you do, she explained.
Bakul Patel, senior director of global digital health strategy and regulatory at Google Health, offered a contrasting point of view. His conversations about AI tend to split down the middle.
Patel said some demonstrate bias in the sense that they fear AI could take their job, for example. Others wish for more AI implementation because they feel burnt out.
“Let’s just figure out what it can do and what it can not do,” Patel said. “Yeah, we can put a box around it, but not necessarily like it’s going to help us solve some of the elephants in the room. Education in the medical space has to fundamentally shift from where it is today and where it needs to be.”
Other noteworthy takes on the intersection of medtech and digital technologies
“Safety’s always top of mind. How we use data, how we implement data into things and the extent to which that data has taken us to provide the direction. We are unbelievably conscious about that and are probably somewhat conservative — appropriately so right now. While we’re trying to figure that out. The bias is real.” — Cohen on taking a conservative approach to utilizing data.
“Robert mentioned bias earlier, and most of what you’re speaking to is equity and access. On that question, are we boldly stepping into digital? I think the answer is not boldly enough. We’re not doing it and building out the infrastructure for people in Maui, Alaska, Nebraska, all these places can get care. We have the opportunity to build in the equity so that, no matter where you are or whatever procedure, you need [you can get it]. I’m going to specifically name our maternal health services in this country, because it is shameful.” — Butler on utilizing data to build health equity.
“Where we don’t really have an answer right now in my healthcare system is the 450 positions that are open, and there’s just no applicants for these jobs. These are the people that check you in, walk you back for your colonoscopy. These people recover you after you wake up. These jobs are not being filled. I see the importance of empowering the workforce as a very, very key part of how we think about digital in the future. And I think we’ve started to do that.” — Sethi on healthcare burdens digital technology could address.
“We really build a digital twin for the patient, meaning we are building a virtual model of all of you. That allows a physician to have an idea if you will respond to a treatment or maybe you shouldn’t do a treatment and you should just have lifestyle changes. This is really the goal. It is, I think, a steep goal, but we are working on it. I’m very hopeful that sooner than later, everyone here has a digital twin of themself.” — Eusemann on digital twins.
