Prof. David Hayes, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota from the United States was invited by the Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine at Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to be Dr. Lui Che Woo Distinguished Professor who delivered a public lecture on ‘Emerging and Future Role for Telemedicine/Mobile Medicine – A Dramatic Change in Healthcare Delivery’ yesterday (19 January).  Attending guests included Prof. Fanny M.C. Cheung, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, CUHK;  Prof. Yu Cheuk-man, Convenor, CARE team of the Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine, CUHK; as well as representatives of the Lui Che Woo Foundation Limited and K. Wah Group.

The advancement of communications technology has enabled service providers of various fields to provide remote and mobile services.  Users can often enjoy efficient and high quality services while staying within doors.  Is it possible for the health care industry?

Professor Hayes has been committed to promoting the development of telemedicine and mobile medicine by setting up the community network via Mayo Clinic Care Network.  The Network enables patients to remotely schedule appointments and procedures and contact caregivers for ongoing medical advice.  Leveraging the advanced telemedicine technologies and mobile apps, medical centers may be able to wirelessly monitor patients at home to dynamically record and transmit vital signs, basic blood chemistries activity, dietary intake, renal output and mental activity through multi-sensor technology, transmit to a central monitoring complex and have the results returned wirelessly to the individual.

In countries with the most advanced telemedicine options such as the United States, if 2 to 3% of patient interactions are currently remote vs. traditional face to face encounters, the future direction is clearly one where this paradigm will be ‘up-ended’. It is projected in some geographies hat by 2020 this percentage of remote encounters could be approaching 20%.

Professor Hayes is currently the medical director of Mayo Clinic Provider Relations and the Mayo Clinic Care Network and a member of Mayo Clinic’s Management Team. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Doctorate of Medicine, with distinction, from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed his internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, and his Residency in Cardiovascular Disease, at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota.  He also completed training in cardiac pacing at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, and training in nuclear cardiology at Cornell University Medical Center in New York.

Professor Hayes has lectured worldwide, and his interests in cardiac implantable devices have resulted in multiple publications on various aspects of pacing and defibrillation. He has published a total of 301 manuscripts and 459 abstracts. He is the past president of the Heart Rhythm Society and remains active in this organization as well as the American College of Cardiology.

About Dr Lui Che Woo Distinguished Professor Public Lecture

With the generous support of the Lui Che Woo Foundation Limited, the Lui Che Woo Institute of Innovative Medicine was established in 2012 under the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK which is dedicated to the advancement of three focused research themes, namely BRAIN (Brain Research And Innovative Neuroscience), SMART (Sports Medicine And Regenerative Technology) and CARE (Cardiovascular Advancement, Research and Education). These research themes involve interdisciplinary teams of researchers from other faculties of the University as well as international research partners to explore cutting edge advances in the knowledge frontiers.  Each year, a prominent scientist in the field of BRAIN, SMART or CARE will be invited for scholarly exchange and delivery of a public lecture. Prof. Steven C. Cramer, Vice-Chair of Research, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine in USA and Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2012, Shaw Laureate in Life Science and Medicine 2008 and Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application in Kyoto University were invited to be Dr. Lui Che Woo Distinguished Professor and speak for the lecture, with the objective of promoting health education in the community.

Prof. David Hayes speaks on his research in Telemedicine/Mobile Medicine. 

Prof. Fanny Cheung, CUHK Pro-Vice-Chancellor, presents a souvenir to Prof. David Hayes, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Medical School, Mayo Clinic and Dr. Lui Che Woo Distinguished Professor. 

A group photo with the representatives of Lui Che Woo Foundation Limited and K. Wah Group

Prof. Fanny Cheung, CUHK Pro-Vice-Chancellor, delivers welcome remarks.