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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Monday, February 23, 2015

Now Robots Are Taking Away Hospital Jobs



Welcome to Permanent Unemployment
  • Jobs of every kind, in every field, are rapidly and permanently being abolished by robots, the Internet and outsourcing.
  • The time is here when your MRI scan will be emailed to a "qualified" doctor to review in Bangladesh or Kenya at perhaps 15% of the cost of an American citizen doctor.


PinnacleHealth System is using eight robots in situations where time or distance prevent the needed doctor from being in the room.

The robots are equipped with things including powerful cameras which can provide a full view of the patient, or zoom in close enough to even test the reflex of the patient's pupil. They can transmit video and sound to a doctor located elsewhere, and enable the doctor to speak to the patient and attending caregivers, who also can see the doctor.

Dr. Christian Caicedo said such robots are the "future of medicine." Falling under the heading of telemedicine, they will become increasingly necessary as things such as the aging of the baby boomers and more people with health insurance stretch the supply of doctors reports Penn Live.

PinnacleHealth has a robot stationed at J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon County, which is an affiliate of PinnacleHealth, and which is located in a rural area where a specialist such as a neurologist for a stroke patient might not be immediately available. In such cases, the specialist can use the robot to examine and access the patient, and do things such as order medication and tests.

PinnacleHealth is also using robots within its Harrisburg-area facilities in non-urgent instances such as when a specific doctor's expertise is required, but the doctor's physical presence is not. Caicedo, an emergency room doctor and medical director of West Shore Hospital, said a robot can allow a doctor to see several patients when, because of time and distance, the doctor could otherwise see only one.

PinnacleHealth has several versions of robots, including one that is self-propelled, and can be moved via remote control. Or tracks can be placed on the floor to guide the robot from a storage area to patient care areas. Doctors can control the robot and interact with the patient via computer, pad or smartphone.

Say Good-Bye to Jobs
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Hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area are using robots called Tugs to take over many of the everyday tasks involved in tending to patients. The bots are programmed to deliver food and drugs, pick up waste and laundry, and to travel the halls without crashing into people, according to an article in Wired 
— though it's clear the story's writer doesn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling from them.
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The University of California, San Francisco hospital recently began using the machines, and the nearby El Camino hospital has had a fleet since 2009. Hospital administrators say the rolling electronic porters can help bring down the "absurd" costs of healthcare in America, the article says, mostly by limiting the ranks of hospital staff.  (CNBC.com) 

Medical droid from Star Wars

The Future of American Workers
The moronic politicians and TV talking heads blunder forward thinking the future will look like the past, and they talk about new jobs and economic recovery.  
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Those of us still able to think for ourselves see the writing on the wall.  Technology, robotics, the Internet and outsourcing are permanently abolishing jobs by the millions.  At some point the consumer economy will collapse as people with jobs to buy products simply vanish.

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The successful political party of the future will run on a "Jobs for Humans" platform.  It will be a  return of the Luddites as millions of people permanently made unemployable by machines demand help.

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