Doctors using robotic surgery to operate on patients in other countries.
Specialists giving crucial advice to doctors with a stroke victim hundreds of miles away.
Experts in Los Angeles diagnosing patients in rural areas without having to leave home.
These are among the visions physicians at the UCLA School of Medicine have for a new track focusing on telemedicine.
Through live video transmission and robotics, the telemedicine program would focus on connecting medical specialists to patients without ever bringing the two face to face. But the rate at which UCLA doctors can develop the new department and technology depends on whether Proposition 1D passes on Nov. 7.
That proposition would set aside $200 million to expand medical programs at the University of California, funds which UCLA depends on to establish a new medical track for telemedicine, said Alan Robinson, associate vice chancellor for medical sciences.
With the funds, Robinson said UCLA’s medical school would be able to admit 10 percent more students into its program to concentrate specifically on telemedicine.
One form of telemedicine treatment Robinson said he is interested in developing is long-distance robotic surgery.
“Right now a doctor can do surgery on a patient from a separate room via 3-D video transmission,” Robinson said. “But if a doctor can do it in another room, why not in another state? Why not in another country?”
Robinson added that the U.S. Department of Defense has expressed interest in the technology as well because it could allow doctors in the U.S. to operate on injured soldiers abroad.
But Gerald Koocher, American Psychological Association president, said there are lines telemedicine should not cross, such as in the field of psychology.
UCLA would be able to use any money it receives from Proposition 1D to help Los Angeles improve the use of telemedicine care, which is already available in other areas of California.
Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Diego already have programs where stroke specialists can analyze a patient’s MRI and help doctors several miles away make the best life-saving decisions within the first two hours of a stroke, neurologist Dr. Jeffrey Saver said.
Right now, UCLA only has such a connection with its hospital in Santa Monica. But over the next three or four years, UCLA stroke specialists such as Saver will be working to get 10 to 20 more hospitals in Los Angeles County the same connection.
Saver said the development of telemedicine technology at UCLA, which started this summer, will likely happen with or without the proposition but would take longer to implement without the proposition funds. The $200 million set aside for UC medical programs has not been designated for certain schools or projects yet, but the proposition specifies that some of the funds be used to expand telemedicine programs.
If the proposition passes, the UC Board of Regents will allocate the money at its meeting on Nov. 15 and 16.
But the proposition is not the only piece of legislation spurring the growth of telemedicine.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order on Oct. 27 creating a task force which will work on establishing broadband service across the state.
During the colloquium, a doctor examined an 11-year-old girl with leukemia 100 miles away in Sacramento to show how stronger telecommunications in the state can improve health care and make it more affordable.
“In countries like Japan and South Korea , the people have access to great technologies at lower costs than anywhere in America. We can do that,” Schwarzenegger said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.