Robot Helps Physicians Offer Specialized Treatment to Patients at Baylor Waxahachie
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This newest member of the Baylor Waxahachie team is the latest in what’s known as robotic telemedicine. From 30 miles away, at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, pulmonary and critical care physicians visit with patients in the Baylor Waxahachie ICU with just the click of a few buttons and the assistance of a joystick.
Via the robot, these doctors offer advice and treatment recommendations, and can even perform some aspects of an examination such as listening to a heartbeat or examining a patient’s pupils.
Because Baylor Waxahachie does not have a critical care and pulmonary physician on staff, Jay Fox, president of Baylor Waxahachie and Dr. Baird and the ICU team sought an innovative way to bring this specialized area of medicine to the Waxahachie community. The offsite physician access robot met these needs.
The robot was aptly named B.E.S.S.Y., (Baylor's Extra Specialist Seeing You), by one of its co-workers, Suzy Vale of Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie medical staff support.
Stephanie Woolley, M.D., on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas, Robert Baird, M.D., medical director critical care services for Baylor Health Care System and co-director of critical care services for Baylor Dallas and Christian Hayden, M.D., critical care and pulmonary medicine physician on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas are the three physicians who utilize the robot at Baylor Waxahachie.
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