In our annual HealthLeaders 20, we profile individuals who are changing healthcare for the better. Some are longtime industry fixtures; others would clearly be considered outsiders. Some are revered; others would not win many popularity contests. All of them are playing a crucial role in making the healthcare industry better. This is the story of Hiep T. Nguyen, MD.
This profile was published in the December, 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.
"People criticize technology and say it costs too much or it's dangerous, but it is evolving, and we are evolving, and we can't be everywhere at once. Technology is essential to the evolution of medicine and the demands of healthcare."
Growing up in the small Nebraska town of Imperial, a refugee and immigrant from the Vietnam War, Hiep T. Nguyen, MD, says he felt like an alien. When the Star Wars movie series took off during his boyhood, Nguyen closely identified with Luke Skywalker's character, and loved science fiction, robotics, and technology, but he could never determine how to build a career from what he says became a "serious interest."
A force was also within Nguyen from a young age, a drive to give back to his community. Following his father's example, a general internist, Nguyen went to medical school at the University of California San Francisco, specializing in urology after his first rotation in pediatric urology. "It just always felt right, right from the beginning." During his residency, robots began to be used in surgery, and there was the merge Nguyen was looking for—science fiction became reality in the OR.
Far from feeling alien anymore, today Nguyen describes himself as "The Mad Hatter" of robotic surgery at Boston Children's Hospital, where he works as an attending urologist and the director of the Pediatric TeleUrology Service. As the director of the Robotics Surgery, Research, and Training Center, Nguyen coordinates the 40 or more robotic projects the department works on simultaneously.
"Ever since I came to Children's in 2004 as the director of robotic surgery, companies and people have come out of the woodwork wanting to talk and collaborate about doing more innovative things with technology and robotics and medicine," said Nguyen.
By supporting projects from many companies and developers of various sizes, Nguyen hopes to work against challenges in the robotics industry, which he says restricts access and use of this technology due to high costs. As healthcare's cost structure transitions away from fee-for-service, Nguyen says that he sees two fates for robotic technology in healthcare. Because of the current cost, he worries that robotics will not be implemented at the level for the benefits and savings to occur, and payment structure reforms might make this technology too expensive for hospitals, as it is today for many, despite the savings it could generate through improvements in quality and safety. Nguyen hopes the large variety of projects he and his department collaborate on can help to expand the market and increase competition in that industry, so that technology, he says, instead of being an expensive and exclusive method of care, is the solution to healthcare's challenge.
At Children's, Nguyen led a VGo robotic telepresence project, which allowed the hospital to monitor patients at their homes using robots, reducing repeat hospital visits and saving money.
"What we found happening that was really interesting was patients started to personify the VGo system, and instead of the mechanical mentality, they started to think of the robot as the doctor, and patients started to get more interested in their healthcare," said Nguyen. "They were participating in their health and taking more responsibility by engaging in their condition."
With all his work on futuristic projects at Children's, such as robotic organs and predictive analytics that can assist and alert a physician using EHR, Nguyen's charitable activities bring him back down to earth. Nguyen teaches surgeons in foreign countries pediatric urological reconstruction through IVUMed, where he has served voluntarily as the vice chair for 10 years. His teams often bring their own supplies, and teach at facilities that barely have the basic resources of a modern hospital in the United States. Nguyen has traveled to more than 15 countries through IVUMed. He recently returned from a trip to Rwanda, where he says a generation of medical professionals has been lost because of the genocide that occurred there 18 years ago.
"What I enjoy the most about these trips is they really open my eyes," said Nguyen. "In countries like these, reproduction really is a natural resource, and as a urologist you have a hand in fixing this issue in someone's life. No longer is someone a burden because they can't reproduce. They are now able to participate in society, and it changes the dynamics of their life so much."
Nguyen is also an artist with works in painting, pottery, sculpting, and photography. Some of his work has sold at charitable auctions and fundraisers, and all of the proceeds he donates to IVUMed.
"My artistic side really is a necessity to do what I do. With art you can see life from a different perspective and through that you can have those 'aha' moments. A lot of people use art in that way, but I especially love what I do because I paint, and do pottery, and while I'm at the wheel with clay in my hands. I might have a problem going on at work I need to solve, and so often it comes to me while I'm creating other things," said Nguyen.
Under Nguyen's leadership, Boston Children's Hospital formed the International Health Center at the hospital, through which it coordinates trips and educational programs internationally. Once a year, Nguyen travels to a developing country to establish or check in on training programs. Recently, the International Health Center currently is developing a web-based application that will allow doctors in developing countries to continue their education and chat with surgeons and doctors at Children's.
"People criticize technology and say it costs too much or it's dangerous, but it is evolving, and we are evolving, and we can't be everywhere at once. Technology is essential to the evolution of medicine and the demands of healthcare," said Nguyen.
Chelsea Rice is an associate editor for HealthLeaders Media.
