Syndicom

Old tech, new tech, different working practice.

Recently, I was in an appointment with my physician and she was cursing about the spell check or lack thereof on her computer. The first time someone has actually ‘presenced’ my EHR in an appointment, and after reading about EHRs and a lot of technology over the last several months, I started to interrogate her about her relationships with my ‘record’. She told me that she found that she spends too much time attached to the keyboard and the screen now and that it really impacts her ability to connect with her patients. She also said that the platform is important also == not all EHRs are created equal it seems, and so the extra time she needs to spend amending the record when she is seated with me is less time with me. If that makes sense.

Interestingly enough, in my interactions with veterinary clinics, they also have EHRs and computers in their rooms, but instead of recording all the data at the time of interaction, they proceed with the examination and discussion, then return to the ‘backstage’ area out of the exam room to process their thoughts, continue with special actions and add the information as they go. Noticeably, the vets and their techs work as a team so someone is always with their clients/patient couple as they work with the record. Same tech. Different working practice.

In a recent article Dr Michael Cowan discusses just this point. “As a hematologist and oncologist, anything I can do to help you can also kill you if it’s not done right,” he writes, “so I take a heuristic approach to patient care. My problem with EHR is it makes me change my rhythm. It’s like changing a dance step; it can throw you off.” Throw you off. Not really a phrase you want to hear from your hematologist or oncologist! As Cowan continues to add however, this is where web 2.0 and its interaction comes in to help solve those gnarly interpersonal privacy and security issues commonly associated with EHRs. Cowan foresees a time when patients will seek a self-directed diagnosis using online resources, then follow this up with conversations with fellow sufferers they have found across social networks and finally, an email conversation with their medical provider. This is a radically different picture of clinical practice.

And just in case you think it might stop there, in other news across the blogosphere, Twitter is being used in the operating room to educate about surgical procedures in real time.

This video of course, brings us a whole new insight into the visible body, a web based visualization tool of the complete human body. This is an amazing tool, useful for helping patients understanding conditions but also for physicians and medical students in terms of education. Visible Body is touted as the most comprehensive 3D model of the human body available. I have seen the impact of photos on client understanding in veterinary practice and it really aids comprehension so who knows what this tool could do!

It’s not just your computer screen involved here either. Just released for your iPhone and iPod, there is the Joslin chest atlas, a tool able to provide a quite comprehensive atlas of common and uncommon radiographic findings of the chest. Built with the medical student and resident in mind, this atlas demonstrates and quizzes you on must-know findings such as Hampton’s Hump, Kerley B lines, pneumomediastinum and more.

Not only that but Jeremy Joslin in his search for a “robot sitting on his shoulder while he is seeing patients and collecting information which it then turns into an MP3“, has also added built-in links to Wikipedia and Google for people to find out more as they interact with the atlas. In his continuing quest to improve the Atlas, Jeremy is asking for some assistance locating radiographs that show the Westermark sign — go to contest {at} idiogenicosmoles(.)com to join the quest!

With thanks to woodenmask for the med chart!

Wait until my physician hears about the robot!!

Good things happen when we connect!