Ernest Quintana's family knew he was dying of chronic lung disease when he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, unable to breathe.

Key points: The family says the news should have been delivered face to face and not by a machine

The family says the news should have been delivered face to face and not by a machine The hospital defended the use of the robot, saying it did not replace in-person conversations

The hospital defended the use of the robot, saying it did not replace in-person conversations Mr Quintana died two days later from chronic lung disease

Granddaughter Annalisia Wilharm was alone with 78-year-old Mr Quintana when a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre emergency department in Fremont, California, popped in to say a doctor would be making his rounds.

A robot then rolled in and a doctor appeared on the video screen.

Ms Wilharm, 33, figured the visit was routine. She was astonished when the doctor told Mr Quintana he would likely die within days.

"This guy cannot breathe, and he's got this robot trying to talk to him," she said.

"Meanwhile, this guy (the doctor) is telling him, 'So we've got your results back, and there's no lung left. There's no lung to work with'."

Ms Wilharm said she had to repeat what the doctor said to her grandfather, because he was hard of hearing in his right ear and the machine could not get to the other side of the bed.

"So he's saying that maybe your next step is going to hospice at home," Ms Wilharm is heard saying in a video she recorded of the visit. "Right?"

"You know, I don't know if he's going to get home," the doctor said.

"If you're coming to tell us normal news, that's fine, but if you're coming to tell us there's no lung left and we want to put you on a morphine drip until you die, it should be done by a human being and not a machine," his daughter Catherine Quintana said.

Mr Quintana died on Tuesday, two days after being taken to the hospital.

Ernest Quintana died from chronic lung disease. ( AP: Catherine Quintana )

Hospital defends use of robot

Michelle Gaskill-Hames, senior vice-president of Kaiser Permanente Greater Southern Alameda County, called the situation highly unusual and said officials "regret falling short" of the patient's expectations.

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But the hospital also defended its use of the robot and said its policy is to have a nurse or doctor in the room at the time of remote consultations.

"The evening video tele-visit was a follow-up to earlier physician visits," Ms Gaskill-Hames said in a written response.

"It did not replace previous conversations with patient and family members and was not used in the delivery of the initial diagnosis."

Steve Pantilat, chief of the palliative medicine division at University of California, San Francisco, said he did not know the details in the case, but that robot technology had done wonders for patients and their families, some of whom were too far away for in-person visits.

The video meetings were warm and intimate, he said, adding that not all in-person discussions have empathy and compassion.

"No matter how well we deliver very difficult news, it's sad and it's hard to hear," he said.

Ms Wilharm said her grandfather, a family man who kept every childhood drawing he ever gave her, deserved better.

She said after the visit, he gave her instructions on who should get what and made her promise to look after her grandmother.

"He was such a sweet guy," she said.

A friend of the family, Julianne Spangler, posted an image of the video call to Facebook.

Ms Spangler said she wanted the media to get involved in the situation after Kaiser Permanente said it would "take note" of the family's complaints.

"This is not the way to show value and compassion to a patient … shame on you Kaiser," she wrote.

ABC/wires