Cypress – The new Houston Methodist Hospital in Cypress opens on March 17. This hospital merges technology and medicine in a way that’s never been done before. It’s one of the first completely high-tech hospitals featuring ambient listening technology and artificial intelligence.
While walking through the halls of the new campus, it’s clear that something is different; hallways are wider for future robots to pace the halls, there are more touch screens on the walls and there are no phones in any of the rooms.
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“We have doubled down on voice to drive everything,” said Dr. Nicholas Desai, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Medical Officer/Chief Quality Officer of Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital.
The rooms are also equipped with buttons to immediately get doctors on-camera inside patients’ rooms. The benefit of this quick speed to a specialist eliminates the wait to meet with a specialist just because one isn’t available at the hospital at that moment.
“Cameras are used when I need virtual services to come in. So, if someone is having a stroke and I need the neurologist to walk right into the room, the camera will turn on and can examine the patient alongside the team that’s in the room,” Dr. Desai said.
“The entire hospital, the entire 105 acres is really wired from a 5G Wi-Fi six standpoint so that we can continue to build on innovation and technology here at Houston Methodist Cypress and across our entire Houston Methodist system,” said Chief Executive Officer, Trent Fulin. “The technology enables them to better care for patients and helps us improve our overall quality, safety and the experience that they’re having when they come to Houston Methodist.”
The hospital says patient information will be confined within the room and is therefore kept safe and private.
“The key is creating more efficiencies and taking the computer out from between you and I,” Fulin said. “Say I’m a clinician and just have a natural conversation and then we have AI that will pick up on the speakers and help document. So, a lot of times clinicians... are spending a lot of time documenting after visits. This creates efficiencies so documentation is happening as I’m just having a natural conversation with you.”
The hospital opens with 100 beds and has the ability to one day expand to 500.
