Hospitals can appeal to patients via virtual worlds, says IT expert

San Diego-based Palomar Pomerado Health plans to open a new, high-tech hospital in 2011, but a virtual model of the hospital is already online. The $800 million, 1.2 million square-foot Palomar Medical Center West will have 600 beds, and will feature technology such as operating suites with robotics technology and patient rooms that could be quickly reconfigured to meet the needs of a patient's changing health status. The medical center's online equivalent, termed "Virtual Palomar West," has similar features, which anyone with Internet access can tour via the virtual world of Second Life.