October 25th, 2011 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Opinion
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While most of us fail to see it, doctors are changing. We’re changing as a result of the social and technological innovation. In 2050 what we do and how we do it will be very different from what we did at the turn of the century. We’re evolving from analog to digital. I think it’s important to consider the ‘digital physician’ as a concept worthy of attention. The training and support of this emerging prototype has to meet its different needs and workflows. Perhaps the criteria by which we choose medical students should take into consideration the anticipated skill sets and demands of this next generation. And we need hard information about the digital physician and her habits.
Here are some differences between the digital and analog physician:
The digital physician
- Information consumption is web-based
- Rarely uses a pen. Care and correspondence is conducted through an EMR.
- Socially connected. Comfortable with real time dialog at least on a peer-to-peer level. Recognizes Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
July 14th, 2011 by DrWes in Health Policy, Opinion
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* Bzzzzzaaaaapp *
Suddenly, the light went out. There was complete and utter darkness. Then, about 3 seconds later, the lights returned. My computer with its flat screen poised before me, remained dark. I hesitated a moment, then pushed the power button. Within a few more moments, the computer restarted. All seemed intact.
But what if it wasn’t?
Today with our myriad of computer systems, electronic medical records, e-mail messages, paging systems, digital xray machines, blood chemistry analyzers, automated blood pressure cuffs, etc., etc., etc., what would happen if we had no power or functional electronic medical record, just for a week?
Could our health system function?
We have entered the era when our medical students and residents have never entered a written order and “flagged it.” Our unit secretaries wouldn’t have a clue how to take off an order from a “flagged” chart. How would we order a stat portable chest xray without a computer? And what about our written notes. Would they include the date and time in the lefthand column, or would that be forgotten in our hurry to write our manual progress notes? Would our digital phone systems work? How about our pagers? Doctors can no longer find manual blood pressure cuffs on our wards since hospitals have moved to automated blood pressure cuffs that upload their readings into the electronic medical record automatically. Have our nurses and medical assistants lost the art of taking a manual blood pressure? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 30th, 2011 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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The development and use of an electronic medical record is extremely important for communication, rapid diagnosis and clinical decision making, increasing efficiency in working up patients, decreasing the cost of duplication of testing and time delays in medical care and treatment.
There are many other advantages of using a functional electronic medical records. A person could be anywhere in the world and have his medical information immediately available. The results of all testing should immediately be communicated to the treating physician. All imaging studies should be digital.
Patients’ physicians could immediately read and use them for their clinical decision making.
These are only a few of the advantages of the electronic medical record. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
November 4th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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It’s the great migration to digital. And as civilization makes its move, the pharmaceutical industry is trying to figure out how to reach out to physicians. Pharmaceutical reps are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Branded medication portals leave most doctors cold. Email outreach is marginal.
Pharma strategists ask me how to reach doctors in the new world. I don’t have an answer. It isn’t that I can’t come up with an answer. It’s just that a good one doesn’t exist. Why?
Doctors aren’t anywhere right now. They’re stuck somewhere between the analog and digital. Socially they’re nebulous. Their virtual communities are non-existent. Public social networks are sparsely populated. When they participate they watch and rarely create or discuss. Our profession is going through a lot right now and it’s evident in anemic digital adoption. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
December 16th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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I am fortunate to work at an institution that has a fully deployed electronic medical record (EMR) system that incorporates outpatient physician notes and inpatient notes under one umbrella. By and large, patient care is facilitated since both outpatient and inpatient notes appear simultaneously in the patient’s chart, along side telephone messages and clinical results. While there are plenty of kinks to work out, most of us have to admit that there are huge patient care advantages to such a system.
The system also promotes a secure e-mail service for patients to e-mail their physician and a mechanism to have their results forwarded directly to them. With the ability to empower patients directly, many would consider this as the Utopian model for heath care delivery of the future.
And what could be better? Patients get virtually unlimited access to their health care provider, 24-7. Results are whisked to the patient. Speed. Efficiency. “Green.” It’s all good, right?
Maybe. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
