Get ready for surgery in the 21th century! On Thursday, April 2, at 7:30 a.m., Sherman Hospital will be the first hospital in Illinois to provide live “Tweeted” updates of a surgery — but not just any surgery — it will be a high-tech robotic surgery using Sherman’s da Vinci surgical robot. And we at Demi & Cooper are proudly running the program. Through the social-networking site Twitter, Sherman officials will provide a running commentary, updates of activities and photos of the procedure. Twitter users will continuously receive messages of 140 characters or less, called “Tweets”, by following Sherman at http://twitter.com/shermanhealth. It’s just one more example of some of the cutting-edge things we’re doing as part of the robust social media services we offer to our clients.
“Sherman Hospital is committed to becoming one of the best community hospitals in the nation,” says Christine Priester, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Sherman Health. “This is an example of our forward thinking and dedication to educating and connecting with the community.”
The procedure, a hysterectomy, will be performed using the da Vinci Surgical System, a sophisticated robotic platform designed to expand surgeon’s capabilities and offer a minimally invasive option for major surgery. For the first time ever, future hysterectomy candidates will be able get an idea of what is involved with the procedure in a way they would never have been able to before.
Raja Chatterji, M.D., and Humberto Lamoutte, M.D., both OB/GYNs and surgeons on the medical staff at Sherman Hospital, will be performing the operation, slated to last two hours. Both Drs. Chatterji and Lamoutte received extensive training with the da Vinci Surgical System before receiving certification in 2007. Dr. Chatterji received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, and Dr. Lamoutte received his medical degree from the Louisiana State University. Both physicians had residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
Be sure to follow @ShermanHealth on April 2nd to watch the live hysterectomy. And while you’re on Twitter, why not follow Demi & Cooper too? Then you’ll know about events such as this one, as well as learn about the many different ways we use Tweets, blogs, eblasts, and other social media strategies to help our clients.
Justin,
Your comment below is very much appreciated and I can understand how and why you and others feel the way you do; however, I strongly disagree that “tweeting” surgeries makes hospitals and physicians look bad. While tweeting surgeries is not a gimmick, at this early stage there is such wide fascination with it that the buzz it has created is certainly polarizing consumers. Some people love it. Some hate it. But give it time to settle and I think you’ll find that the only people who will care will be medical professionals (current and future) and patients who may be in line for the same procedure. And these people all have something to gain from watching the tweets. They’re learning, and that’s great. As Dr. Kalkanis explained (Henry Ford Hospital, and “tweeting” surgeon), “It’s always better and best if we can err on the side of furthering the field, advancing the frontier, and educating as many people as we can.”
Thanks for the comment,
Charles
——————————
Comment posted Thursday, March 26, 2009
Guys, let’s give Twitter a rest. Especially during surgery. We know ad agencies need to appear as “first adopters” of this stuff – but “tweeting” during surgery just makes hospitals and physicians look bad. PLEASE stop this kind of stuff.
Justin
This sure is creating a lot of buzz. I heard it on the news this morning and then followed the whole procedure. I thought it was so clever for you guys to come up with this idea. And the part that I thought was so great was that the family of the patient got to follow along in the waiting room as well. What a fascinating concept that is keeping right in line with our technological times. Kudos!
This is a great way to help future patients understand how da Vinci surgeries are performed. I don’t see anything wrong with it as long as there was patient consent.
rated site this demicooper.com brill to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor 🙂