Latest news with #surgeons
Forbes
40 minutes ago
- Health
- Forbes
Beyond AI Pilots: 3 Strategies To Successfully Scale AI In Healthcare
Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic vision in healthcare — it's already proving its worth. From accelerating early diagnoses to streamlining administrative tasks, AI pilots have showcased real potential to transform clinical and operational outcomes. And yet, one stubborn challenge persists: why do so few AI initiatives in healthcare successfully scale? Take the example of a surgical AI assistant built to enhance workflow and support clinical decision-making. In a small clinical setting, it works brilliantly — surgeons report greater efficiency, patients see better outcomes, and leadership is eager to expand. But when the same AI solution is rolled out across a large hospital network, it falters. Diverse EHR systems, inconsistent workflows, and organizational complexity overwhelm the AI solution. The problem isn't just AI development — it's the absence of a systemwide strategy. Too often, healthcare AI is approached as a one-off experiment rather than a systemic investment. Pilots are launched in isolation, without long-term planning, institutional alignment, or operational readiness. As a result, even promising AI solutions lose traction once they leave the sandbox. For healthcare executives aiming to move beyond pilots and build scalable, AI-enabled enterprises, the path forward requires a more holistic approach. That means embedding AI into strategic planning, aligning with core clinical and business objectives, and defining measurable return on investment (ROI)— not just in financial terms, but in outcomes, experience, and equity. It also means investing in robust governance, workforce readiness, and cross-functional collaboration from day one. Because at the end of the day, the success of AI in healthcare won't be measured by how innovative the technology is — but by how effectively it improves outcomes, empowers clinicians, and delivers patient-centered care at scale. Here are three strategies to help healthcare organizations scale AI successfully: Alignment is the foundation for scaling AI. Solutions that advance both patient care and financial goals create a compelling value proposition—unlocking leadership support and operational resources. Intermountain Healthcare's sepsis early warning system is a textbook example. By targeting a critical clinical problem—early sepsis detection—the AI model saved lives and reduced ICU stays, yielding cost savings as a natural byproduct. This dual focus enabled rapid adoption across the system. Traditionally, AI ROI emphasized cost reduction—streamlining staffing, minimizing billing errors, or shortening stays. Today's leaders recognize that ROI must be more holistic. At UCLA Health, AI-powered clinical documentation through voice technology didn't just boost efficiency—it significantly reduced physician burnout, freeing clinicians to spend more time with patients. This 'experience ROI' is critical in today's care environment. Kaiser Permanente goes further by embedding equity into AI evaluation. They measure success by how well AI tools serve diverse patient populations, ensuring fair and effective care for all. By assessing outcomes, experience, adoption, and fairness, leaders gain a richer understanding of AI's true value. Scaling AI is as much about people as technology. The Cleveland Clinic's cross-disciplinary AI hubs demonstrate how integrated teams—including clinicians, engineers, compliance, and frontline staff—create sustainable AI adoption and innovation. This collaborative model ensures that AI solutions are responsibly implemented, continuously improved, and truly fit clinical workflows. Scaling AI in healthcare demands more than advanced algorithms—it requires embedding AI within strategic priorities, aligning with both clinical and business goals, and redefining ROI to include outcomes, experience, and equity. Strong governance, workforce readiness, and cross-functional collaboration are equally essential. When these elements come together, AI moves from isolated pilots to transformative enterprise assets—delivering measurable value for patients, providers, and health systems alike.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Health
- The Sun
Nerve-wracking moment doctors continue performing cancer surgery on patient during monster 8.8-mag earthquake
THIS is the nerve-wracking moment doctors continue performing cancer surgery on a patient during the monster Russian 8.8 magnitude earthquake. The massive quake hit off Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, wreaking chaos across the Pacific. 6 6 6 The quake struck about 84 miles out at sea at around 7.24pm EST (12:30am BST) at a shallow depth of 19.3km (12 miles). It is the largest since the 2011 monster which led to a tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Now unbelievable footage has emerged of doctors managing to continue performing surgery while the horror quake unfolded. The brave doctors in Russia are captured looking at one another as the apparatus around them begins to shake. One is seen desperately holding onto instruments before one falls to the floor. The other surgeons managed keep their hands still over the patient as the quake rocks their bodies. They all appear to look around in desperation for any help while all the room continues to tremble. The doctors then appear to bravely continue the cancer operation despite the chaos. The patient, under anaesthetic, remains laying on the table as another surgeon lifts up the sheet covering their face - presumably to check everything is fine. Tsunami alerts have now spread to South America after the sixth biggest recorded tremor ever saw nearly 2million people earlier evacuated from Japan's coasts. Huge aftershocks continue to hit the area and resulting tsunamis could last for more than a day. Waves have already hit Russia, Japan, Hawaii, and California. A 4m (13ft) high wave was recorded on the southern tip of Kamchatka with waves inundating low lying areas and thousands evacuating. Hawaii has seen waves nearly 6ft high, but officials believe the worst might be over and have downgraded warnings. A Brit family holidaying on the island revealed to The Sun how they are stranded on the 16th floor of their hotel as the first tsunami waves hit the island. Some 1.9m people in Japan have been ordered to evacuate with a 1.3m (4ft) wave hitting the country. It's a nightmare scenario for the country that suffered a nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011 caused by a tsunami. Workers from the nuclear plant have been evacuated and are monitoring it remotely. Tsunami warnings are in place for as far away as Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. Waves have also hit the mainland US, including California, Oregon, and Washington. President Donald Trump posted following the quake: "Due to a massive earthquake that occurred in the Pacific Ocean, a Tsunami Warning is in effect for those living in Hawaii. "A Tsunami Watch is in effect for Alaska and the Pacific Coast of the United States. Japan is also in the way. Please visit for the latest information. STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!" 6 6 6
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Surgeons calmly react to magnitude 8.8 earthquake mid-operation
Think you had a bad day at work? You might have had a run-in with your boss, or maybe you missed the bus and were forced to run through the rain. Whatever it is, it's probably not as stressful as what these blokes went through today. As the massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rattled Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday, a team of surgeons were put to the test as their operating room shook under the might of the planet's biggest tremor in 14 years. Russia's state-controlled broadcaster RT shared the dramatic video from inside Kamchatka hospital, showing the medical team gripping the patient's bed to keep everything in place while looking around at the instruments rattling across the room. The team reportedly finished the procedure without interruption. 'The surgery went well and the patient was in recovery,' RT reported. Along the peninsula's coast, tsunami waves inundated port areas, prompting residents to flee inland. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated safely after several people were injured by the quake. 'The walls were shaking,' a Kamchatka resident told Russian state media. 'It's good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out... It was very scary,' she said. Within hours of the quake, warnings and advisories spread across the Pacific, from Alaska and Hawaii to the US West Coast. Japan, China and New Zealand also issued alerts. In northern Japan, frothy white waves rolled ashore, while in Honolulu, traffic gridlock lined streets far from the coastline. Japanese authorities opened evacuation centres, their urgency driven by memories of the 2011 disaster that crippled a coastal nuclear plant. Official measurements put the tsunami at 3–4 m in Kamchatka, 60 cm on Hokkaido, and just under 30 cm above tide level in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Da Vinci Malfunctions: How Safe Is Robotic Surgery?
The da Vinci robotic surgical system, developed by Intuitive Surgical, is the most widely used robot-assisted surgical platform worldwide. This enables surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures with enhanced precision, flexibility, and control. For the first time, a systematic review and two real-world studies confirmed the safety and effectiveness of the system. These findings establish a new benchmark for the future of robotic surgery worldwide. Over the past two decades, robotic surgery has significantly reshaped surgical care, offering improved precision and less invasiveness than traditional approaches. The da Vinci system currently dominates the global market, with more than 2.6 million procedures performed in 2024. In Italy, da Vinci platforms have been in use for over 25 years and are now installed in more than 200 hospitals, where they have been used to treat hundreds of thousands of patients each year. Despite this widespread adoption, comprehensive safety analyses, particularly regarding the frequency and clinical impact of technical malfunctions, are lacking. This is a key gap, particularly as new robotic platforms are emerging and must be evaluated against current standards. Surgery Comparison The COMPARE study, published in the Annals of Surgery , is the largest comparative analysis to date of robotic, laparoscopic, and open oncologic surgeries. This study reviewed data on 3.9 million procedures from 230 publications across 22 countries. It included 34 randomised controlled trials, 74 prospective studies, and 122 database studies. The procedures examined included seven complex cancer surgeries performed using the da Vinci robotic surgical system between 2010 and 2022: lung lobectomy, total or radical hysterectomy, radical prostatectomy, partial nephrectomy, right colectomy, low anterior resection, and total mesorectal excision and/or intersphincteric resection for rectal cancers. A total of 1,194,559 robotic procedures using the da Vinci system were compared with 1,095,936 laparoscopic and video-assisted thoracoscopic procedures and 1,625,320 open surgeries. The primary outcomes included conversion to open surgery, operative time, estimated blood loss, transfusion rate, length of hospital stay, 30-day postoperative complications, readmissions, reoperations, and mortality rates. Robotic surgery took longer than laparoscopy (mean difference [MD], 17.73 minutes) and open surgery (MD, 40.92 minutes), but this was offset by the key clinical benefits. Hospital stays were shorter than those with laparoscopy (MD, -0.51 days) and open surgery (MD, -1.85 days), and blood loss was significantly lower than that with open surgery (MD, -293.44 mL). Robotic surgery reduced the risk for conversion to open surgery by 56% compared with laparoscopy. The transfusion risk was 21% lower than that of laparoscopy and 75% lower than that of open surgeries. Thirty-day complication rates were 10% and 44% lower than those of laparoscopy and open surgery, respectively. Mortality was reduced by 14% and 46% compared with laparoscopy and open surgery, respectively. Overall, robotic surgery showed improved safety for patients. Few Malfunctions Complications related to technical malfunctions are rare; however, how rare are they? A systematic review published in the World Journal of Urology , led by Nicolò Maria Buffi, MD, and Andrea Piccolini, MD, from the Department of Urology at the IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital and Humanitas University in Milan, Italy, addressed this question. The review included 25 studies published over the past 20 years, covering 3,308,134 robotic procedures and 12,986 malfunctions of the da Vinci surgical system. Malfunction was defined as any unintended failure involving the robotic console, patient cart, instruments, or accessories that disrupted the workflow, required troubleshooting, caused delays, led to conversion, or resulted in patient injury. Malfunctions were classified as device-related (console or cart) or instrument-related (tools). A related study in European Urology , led by Marco Paciotti, MD, from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, and the Department of Urology, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, analysed Intuitive Surgical data from 1,835,192 da Vinci X and Xi procedures performed globally in 2022, focusing on system‑generated customer messages, which are alerts generated by the da Vinci system in response to technological problems or incorrect platform use. The meta-analysis reported a malfunction rate of 1%, with device malfunctions in 0.11%, instrument issues in 0.37%, and conversion due to malfunction in 0.09%. Among all the malfunctions, 12.9% led to conversion to open surgery and 7.7% to laparoscopy. Injuries linked to malfunctions were estimated at 0.01%-0.02%, typically minor and mostly due to electrical arcing (193 of 308 cases), causing limited tissue damage or burns. System Reliability Manufacturer data showed that 1,790,244 of the 1,835,192 planned procedures (97.55%) were completed without alerts. Alerts occurred in 44,948 procedures (2.45%), totalling 140,986 events. Of these, 81.18% (114,447 events) resolved without rebooting. Technical support was obtained for 14,231 procedures. Only 1202 procedures (0.07%) were interrupted due to alerts, and 945 cases (0.05%) required conversion. The specific causes of alerts and clinical outcomes were not analysed; therefore, a direct link between alerts and outcomes could not be determined. Setting Standards Buffi emphasised the need for clear benchmarks on the da Vinci system's reliability and malfunctions. 'Over the last 5-6 years, there has been a significant introduction of new robotic systems. Given that the da Vinci system (with which I specify that I have no conflict of interest) has a long history and is considered extremely reliable, I thought it was appropriate to establish benchmarks for the reliability of robotic surgery. This is important because we risk focusing on economics, that is, on the cost of one robotic system compared to another, without considering the advantages and reliability of the machine,' he said to Univadis Italy , a Medscape Network platform. Buffi also highlighted a major gap in the field: 'Currently, there is no true standard for assessing the reliability of robotic systems; only the CE approval process is required.' According to Buffi, the da Vinci platform, particularly the latest models, has proven to be extremely safe. He explained that most issues in robotic surgery are linked to human error rather than flaws in technology. This underscores the crucial need for thorough training and education of healthcare professionals. The key challenge is to effectively evaluate new platforms against current standards and ensure robust quality criteria for new entrants in the market.
The Independent
24-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
‘Imbalance' of women doctors harming NHS, retired surgeon says
A prominent retired surgeon, Dr Meirion Thomas, has claimed that too many women are pursuing medical degrees, which is detrimental to the NHS. Dr Thomas said that 'women have got to have children', and their subsequent part-time work arrangements negatively impact NHS services, including patient access to GPs. He suggested that medical schools should reduce the intake of female students from the current 60-70 per cent, which is a 'huge imbalance', to a 50-50 gender split. The comments were made amidst ongoing discussions about NHS strikes, with thousands of resident doctors set to walk out for five days. NHS England has urged the public to continue seeking care during the strikes, advising the use of 111 online for urgent but non-life-threatening issues. Patients struggling to get GP appointments because too many women are doctors, retired surgeon claims
