Passion to protect the patient’s rights

KIES-U Realtime Surgery Monitoring System

Q. Today we will be interviewing with Kies-U’s Doctor Lee about a unique real-time monitoring system in the surgery room. Hello Doctor Lee.

A. Hello.

Q. There is an issue about people playing with implants, cutting cakes, and having a party inside a surgery room in one of the plastic surgery clinics in Kangnam. Does this happen quite a lot in the surgery room?

A. I have read that news as well. I think something this ridiculous happens for a reason. A surgery room is a much closed environment, therefore, people inside the room think that they think it is ok to be by themselves in the room and do anything. A surgery room needs to be closed for the safety and hygienic issues of the patients, but to think that anyone could do anything that they want inside this room is a very serious issue.

Q. You can do anything in a surgery room that is a closed environment… this is rather scary. What do you think about a “shadow surgeon” issue?

A. Shadow surgeon, by the words themselves, means that the doctor is just a shadow without a face. There is a doctor who does an interview with the patient and there is another doctor who does the surgery. However, the patient does not about this so it is unethical to have a shadow surgeon and another one who interviews the patients.

KIES-U Realtime surgery monitoring system

Q. After listening to you, it seems that there is a relation between the shadow surgeon and people have parties in the surgery room that these activities are happening in a closed environment. Is it alright for me to understand that you have made ‘real-time monitoring system for the surgery room’ in order to prevent such activities?

A. A surgery room needs to be a closed environment in respect to safety and hygienic status for the patients, not anything more. The trust between the patients and the surgeons, the hospital and the family members of the patients is at the bottom. I think that the related members of the patients need to know what is happening insider the surgery room in order to recover the trust between the doctor and the patient. The best method to do this, is making it possible for the relative members to see real-time activities in the surgery room through wifi connection. As a result, the relatives will feel secure. They will be able to see from the anesthetic stage until the patient comes out from the room. They will be able to check if the patient is being treated properly or not, and if the surgeon and the nurses are not doing anything inappropriate. Therefore, I think that the real-time monitoring system in necessary.

Q. Do you feel uncomfortable if you think that someone is watching what you are doing behind your back?

A. I have done many surgeries with other doctors on site who ask various questions and I provide answers and description of the surgery to them. The relatives of the patient have the right to check and see if the patient is being treated properly therefore, this is not something that is uncomfortable to me. 

Q. Thank you very much for the interview Doctor Lee.

A. Thanks a lot.