Operation Rising Tiger Launches BI Continuum into A New Era of Global Cyber-Based Healthcare Delivery

It is the stuff of which science fiction stories are based. The only difference is that this episode is real.

A physician thousands of miles away from an isolated Caribbean island is able to direct the use of a first generation “Star Trek” tricoder to scan the heart of a young athlete to check for potentially fatal heart abnormalities. The same miniature ultrasound device (SONOSITE) then is used to scan the womb of an expectant mother to screen for potential birth defects in her unborn child. Next, a fledgling laparoscopic surgeon is directed remotely on the proper execution of a new and delicate procedure.

These technological advances are made possible by a telecommunications link from a portable satellite “earth station” that fits into two laptop bags. This is Operation Rising Tiger (Antigua).

Operation Rising Tiger is a demonstration to the Antiguan government -- and the world -- that Beth Israel Medical Center, a member hospital of Continuum Health Partners in new York City, is ready and able to expand its healthcare delivery signature. Beth Israel is the home of nationally and internationally recognized physicians with clinical expertise that is desparately lacking in remote parts of the world. The export of this expertise is now possible with the use of telemedicine.

Telemedicine is a cutting edge healthcare delivery application that utilizes computers, remote sensors, and telecommunications systems to deliver medical services to a patient who is remotely located from the physician.

Operation Rising Tiger Antigua is the brainchild of Butch Rosser, MD, currently Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Endo-Laparoscopic Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine. On April 1st, he will become the Director of The Advanced Medical Technology Institute (AMTI) and Minimally Invasive Surgery at Beth Israel. Rosser, often referred to as a “cybersurgeon,” specializes in the development, education and deployment of new surgical techniques. He is the recipient of three Computerworld Smithsonian Technical Achievement Awards for new technology based applications in medicine.

“We must change the current healthcare delivery paradigm; no longer will the people have to come to healthcare, healthcare will come to the people,” said Dr. Rosser. “Improving healthcare access is key if the gap between the haves and the have-nots is to be narrowed.”

Dr. Rosser has worked tirelessly with leaders from medicine, business and politics to secure a telemedicine-based service contract with the Antiguan government. Additionally, he and his supporters are making significant strides to drive home the importance of telemedicine and its role in strenthening healthcare in under served arenas.