POTUS, robots and health care reform

Maybe this wasn't the best photo op the White House has arranged. Blogger Dr. Wes (Westby G. Fisher, MD), raises questions about the President's test drive of a robotic surgery system at the Cleveland Clinic last week.

Dr. Wes writes:

"I was surprised that President Obama toured Cleveland Clinic yesterday and had such an up-front experience with minimally-invasive robotic surgical techniques for mitral valve repair that hardly represents mainstream American health care. While the marvels of the technology cannot be disputed, like the endovascular vein harvesting study above, might we find that robotics could be as deliterious to patients compared to open chest techniques? After all, these techniques have yet to be compared in multicenter trials to more conventional open techniques for mitral valve repair. But more concerning as we move forward is this question: will academic centers be granted more funds to test comparative effectiveness research for robotics at the expense of front-line American health care? Surely, this won't be, will it?

Probably.

But when I see pieces like this I wonder why the article does not question the cost and risks of this technique compared to conventional open-chest procedures, especially in this era of touting the need for health care cost containment. How much is this piece about the marketing of this technique to the community (for financial gain) or to the President (for obtaining grants or political favors)?"