How can Social Robots and Acceleration Technology support Doctors in Telehealth?
Within the framework of the doctor’s day, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all doctors and healthcare professionals for their dedication and support during this pandemic that has challenged life as we know it.
In commemoration of this date, we would also like to share with you the projects that we are working on to support doctors in telehealth.
The healthcare industry has become accelerated by a deep digital transformation, fueled by technology.
One of the emerging trends is telehealth, the delivery of health care, information and also education, using remote technologies. It enables doctors treat their patients wherever they are, for example.
Currently, at NTT Disruption, we have co-created two disruptive healthcare solutions to help doctors and healthcare professionals in telehealth.
On the first hand, we have jibo, our social robot, that can carry out daily patient-care activities. It can also act as a communication link between the patient, the doctor and the family, in in-person and in remote scenarios. He provides healthcare professionals with the capability to stay close to their patients, even when they are physically distant.
This initiative has become increasingly important during Covid-19, where, due to the characteristics of the disease, patients are forced to stay isolated for long periods of time.
Then we have Virtual Patient Observation (VPO), which uses real-time video analytics and acceleration technology to provide a new way of enhancing patients safety while helping nurses and practitioners in their daily work.
According to the Philip’s 2020 Future Health Index (FHI), 1 out of 3 healthcare professionals has considered leaving the profession due to stress and the feeling of burnout. VPO solution eases doctors’ daily work and contributes to their wellbeing.
jibo | A human-enabled and social companion for telehealth
Authors suggest doctors will be able to perform a large portion of patient care through social robotics. This will translate into smaller overloads in primary and hospital care, so doctors can focus on more important and less labor-intensive tasks.
Together with different hospitals and medical institutions, we have explored how jibo can be a revolutionary step for the future of patient care and telehealth, regarding elderly people and children.
This shift of jibo towards the B2B2Human is an example of how data can be put to good use. It can contribute to reduce social isolation among elderly people in telemedicine and help children’s recovery in hospital.
ELDERLY PEOPLE
Recent tests with older people and jibo, revealed a greater connection with him.
Thanks to his social and face-to-face communication technology, and his ability to share relevant information proactively. jibo can also accompany, distract, provide treatment reminders and encourage well-being habits that can help manage symptoms of dementia & Alzheimer’s, for example.
jibo proactively supports health professionals with repetitive tasks -like pain assessment- in addition to securely gathering them information for better responses and follow-up.
CHILDREN
Children in long term hospital stays are often far away from their homes, as their therapies and treatments are only available in specific hospitals. This presents an important challenge for families globally. Charities are warning that thousands of hospitalized children far from home, are traumatized. They are particularly vulnerable and already damaged.
In addition to offering companionship and entertainment, jibo can help children and families understand their illness and treatment procedures. jibo can also help engage with them in interactive learning activities that are complementary to those delivered by therapists.
Zela | Zero Latency Acceleration solutions that help boost healthcare and telehealth
To provide effective care and treatment, doctors and nurses must monitor patients around the clock. The need for constant and immediate attention makes these professionals’ jobs very demanding and stressful. Medscape’s annual survey validates this, by stating that approximately 50% of physicians experienced frequent or constant feelings of burnout, due to the large number of activities they are required to perform.
Patients in ICUs have greatly increased due to COVID-19. And the burden of activities to perform has become even more tiresome and stressful for doctors and healthcare practitioners, increasing the health risks for patients.
Together with The Heart Institute (InCor) from the Clinical Hospitals, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, one of the world’s most recognized centers of academic and clinical excellence in cardio pneumology, everis Brazil and Xilinx, we have tested and validated our Virtual Patient Observation (VPO) solution.
Zela’s Virtual Patient Observation (VPO)
A video analytics solution that detects patients’ predefined behaviors, movements, or actions that can result in risky situations with a high impact on the patient’s safety.
VPO evaluates, in real-time and totally anonymously, video feeds coming from cameras installed in ICUs boxes. It sends different levels of alerts to the medical team so they can react to the threat at the exact time, improving patient safety and care, making nurses’ daily work easier and more effective.
Besides making medical team’s daily routines easier, VPO can prevent patients from staying in risky situations by warning doctors and healthcare professionals in real time. This has improved patient care, making it more efficient, reducing claims and potential refunds related to the occurrence of incidents involving patients.
These projects are a small step towards a more human-centered telehealth, and a tech renaissance that will help improve people’s lives and society.
From NTT Disruption we are very happy to be able to contribute with solutions that can aid the work of doctors and healthcare professionals while improving patient care. It is our humble contribution to give back everything they do for us.
Thank you for taking care of our health! Happy Doctor’s Day!
We believe that tech can help improve our world, people’s lives and industries.
We’re here for you.
