A patient walks into a hospital room, sits down and starts talking to a doctor. Only in this case, the doctor is a hologram.
It may sound like science fiction, but it’s the reality for some patients at Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster, Texas.
In May, the hospital group began offering patients the ability to view their doctor remotely as a hologram through a partnership with Holoconnects, a digital technology firm based in the Netherlands.
Each Holobox — the company’s name for its 440-pound, 7-foot-tall device that displays a highly realistic, 3-D live video of a person on a screen — costs $42,000, with an additional $1,900 annual fee.
The high-quality image gives the patient the feeling that a doctor is sitting inside the box, when in reality the doctor is miles away looking at cameras and screens showing the patient.
The system allows the patient and doctor to have a real-time telehealth visit that feels more like a personal conversation. At the moment, the service is mainly used for pre- and post-operative visits.
Crescent Regional executives, who have plans to expand service to traditional appointments, believe this improves the remote experience for the patient.
“Physicians are able to have a very different impact on the patient,” said Raji Kumar, Crescent Regional’s managing partner and chief executive officer. “Patients feel like the doctor is there.”
But experts are skeptical that a hologram visit is significantly better than 2-D telehealth options like Zoom or FaceTime.
In medicine, technological advances are judged by their ability to improve access to care, reduce cost or improve its quality, said Dr. Eric Bressman, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I know of no data to support the idea that this would improve the quality of the visit beyond a typical telemedicine visit,” said Dr. Bressman, who has expertise in digital medicine.
Ms Kumar said one of the ways a hologram enhances the telehealth experience is the large screen and sophisticated camera that allow a doctor to see a patient’s full body, which is useful for judging characteristics such as gait or range of motion. .
The camera could be especially useful in a physical therapy setting, said Dr. Chad Ellimoottil, medical director of virtual care for the University of Michigan Health System.
Some of the hologram’s benefits are less tangible, but still significantly improve the patient experience, said Steve Sterling, managing director of Holoconnects’ North American division.
“We’re not going to affect patient outcomes,” Mr. Sterling said. “But what we’re already influencing is a sense of engagement between doctors and patients.”
While Mr. Sterling said Crescent Regional is the first hospital app for Holobox, hospitality services are using the technology more often.
Twelve hotels have a Holobox and there are plans to install the system in 18 more locations, Mr. Sterling said.
Dr. Ellimoottil believes this technology is better suited to a hospitality environment than a medical environment. Telehealth allows patients to see a doctor from home, but patients using the Holobox system will still have to travel to an office.
In addition to concerns about the lack of improvement in quality and access to care, price is also an issue.
Right now, $42,000 plus a $1,900 annual fee is not a cost-saving service. But Ms. Kumar said she is okay with that.
“This is not a revenue generation thing,” she said. “It’s more about patient quality, engagement and providing better patient service. Giving them more comfort.”