Overview

The objective of this two-day workshop is to identify the integrated systems and general character of the operating room of the future, with the year 2020 as a target timeframe. The workshop will include discussion of clinical scenarios, technology requirements, training needs of health care professionals, and technology integration issues. The workshop is being organized by the Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center of Georgetown University Medical Center, the Innovative Surgery Committee at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center at Fort Detrick. An organizing committee of clinicians and scientists will oversee the design of the workshop program. A report on the “Integrated Operating Room of the Year 2020” will be the deliverable from the workshop and will be made available over the Internet as well as in printed form.

The workshop will consist of a series of plenary sessions and breakout groups. The plenary sessions will provide an overview of the clinical state of the art and relevant technologies. The breakout groups will be organized along technology areas and be given a specific set of issues to address. The workshop will be small, highly interactive, focused, carefully structured, and with ample time to promote discussion. All of the participants will stay at the workshop site and group meals will be provided to encourage interaction and a free exchange of ideas. Through the breakout groups, needs will be identified and an action plan for their adaptation and development will be produced. The summaries, needs assessments, and action plan will be made available in a format that can be distributed to researchers holding potential solutions through new technologies.

 The workshop process is as follows:

• Participants will be asked to identify 3-5 relevant papers prior to the workshop

• Selected papers, planned discussion topics, and the agenda will be distributed to participants before the meeting

• A review of the current state of the operating room and potential new technologies will be presented in a plenary session prior to dividing into small working groups (10-15 participants per group)

• Working group chairs will be given a list of issues to address

• Working groups will meet to identify requirements and define research priorities

• Working groups will report and make recommendations to the organizing committee

• The working groups will meet again, refine their recommendations, and provide a final summary to the complete conference

• The document “Integrated Operating Room of the Year 2020” will be completed shortly following the workshop and will be made available over the Internet and in hard copy