Doctors and luddites...i am wondering if those slow to adopt tech are also old-school in other ways i.e prescriptive speeches and monologues and uninterested in patient participation? now that i am pregnant and have been quizzing my mom about her pregnancies I cannot understand how she didn't ask her doctors anything and they didn't bother to let her know anything. I, on the other hand, have a pregnant obstetrician so i am always asking her how SHE is doing and quizzing her on her symptoms!!! She bears it all with a grin! While i wouldn't mind my doctor taking notes on the computer, i would appreciate an older fashioned handling with regard to visits i.e when doctors didn't have to see 50 patients a day and got to know each patient well and could take some time with each patient.
On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote: > ss wrote, [on 5/20/2009 8:29 PM]: > > > Hi Johnson. You have moved to the "dark side" have you? > > You are a hospital adminLuistrator.... :D > > Interesting article I just came across. Though written with a US slant, > I suspect it may be true for India, and elsewhere, as well. Thoughts? > > > http://news.cnet.com/Why-are-doctors-such-Luddites/2009-13836_3-6249511.html > > Why are doctors such Luddites? > May 20, 2009 4:00 AM PST > By Charles Cooper > > During the course of a normal business day, Gregg Feinerman likes to > send out Twitter updates. He's just like tens of millions of folks > around the country. > > But there's a difference: Feinerman is a Lasik eye surgeon. > > "All the people working in our office are doing it, anyway, and I said, > 'Why not also do it for patients?'" Feinerman said. > > Feinerman's tweeting obviously is a rarity for those in his profession. > More than a decade after the Internet went mainstream, only an estimated > 17 percent of physicians have electronic health record systems. > > The big trade associations representing the medical establishment, such > as the American Medical Association and the Medical Group Management > Association, can't estimate how many of their members use the > microblogging service, or for that matter, how many of them deploy > consumer-facing technologies in their daily interactions with patients. > But if anecdotal evidence is a fair barometer, assume the following: > Doctors who grew up in an earlier era are likely to cling to their > notepads and pens until the day they retire their stethoscopes. For > their younger colleagues, by contrast, consumer technology is just > another way to connect with patients. > > In its Orange County, Calif., offices, the Feinerman Vision Center staff > has set up a Mac notebook in the waiting room with a private Twitter > account. As an eye operation concludes, updates go out that enable a > patient's friends and family to read how the procedure has gone. > > "It's just a different way to do outreach," Feinerman said. > > So why aren't more doctors early adopters of services like Twitter? As > soon as a new MRI machine or microscope comes out, they tend to be all > over it. But practitioners say information technology is hard for older > members of the profession to incorporate into their daily routines. > > In part, that may be because there are few applications in health care > that actually delight doctors. There are still no medical equivalents to > Apple's iTunes or iPhone. And like the rest of us, doctors are creatures > of habit. But change is happening. With each graduating class of > doctors, more physicians feel comfortable with technology. > > A survey published in December by Vanderbilt University Medical Center > hinted at this trend, though from a different perspective. The survey > focused on doctors, mostly on the younger side of the spectrum, trained > in IT-rich environments. Of the doctors who wound up working at offices > with more rudimentary systems, the vast majority expressed unease about > their ability to offer proper care to patients. > > A medical generation gap, if you will, is coming into fuller view. In > fact, it's something I first saw a few years ago, when I was rushed to > the hospital after a hard fall that cracked my head open. > > Upon my arrival at the emergency room, the thirtysomething physician who > attended to me took notes on a tablet computer. He could then transfer > the data from the consultation to a central server over a wireless > network. (He also had a high-end smartphone hanging from his belt, just > in case.) > > As a technology reporter, all this intrigued me more than learning what > was going on with my badly smacked noggin. > > The doctor told me that age--usually the 40th birthday--often defines a > physician's predisposition toward incorporating high tech into his or > her daily interactions with patients. > > A few hours later, I was in the recovery room when another ward doctor > approached me. As he took out a pen to scribble into a notebook binder, > I just had to ask. > > "You don't like tablet computers?" > > He gave me a hard look and mumbled something about how it wasn't his cup > of tea. I'd say he was at least in his mid-50s. That was all I needed to > know. > > "If you don't use tech, per se, in your daily life, at all levels, and > you're not comfortable with it, then it's unlikely that you're going to > be as speedy (to embrace) technology," noted Dr. Todd Rothenhaus, senior > vice president and chief information officer of Caritas Christi Health > Care, the second-largest provider in Massachusetts. "If you're not a > touch typist...or if you never use a mouse or are accustomed to using a > PC as part of your daily activity, then there's going to be an enormous > barrier." > > Rothenhaus may be right. The hope within the Obama administration is > that many of those barriers will crumble in the aftermath of the passage > of the $787 billion economic-stimulus package, which includes $19 > billion for health information technology and another $10 billion for > the National Institutes of Health. > > Clearly, the U.S. population is behind a concerted effort to digitize > medical records, according to a recent poll (PDF) conducted by NPR, the > Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health: > > "Fully three in four say it is important for their health care > providers to use electronic medical records (EMR). A large proportion of > the public also sees benefits to nationwide adoption of this technology. > Majorities say that if the United States adopted greater use of an EMR > system, their own doctors would do a better job coordinating their care > (72 percent say this is at least somewhat likely), that the overall > quality of care in the country would be improved (67 percent), and that > fewer people would get unnecessary medical care (58 percent.) Just over > half (53 percent) say there would be fewer medical errors." > > In theory, that sounds like a slam dunk. But life usually turns out to > be a bit more complicated. Consider the experience of James Dom Dera. An > assistant professor of family medicine at Northeastern Ohio Universities > Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, his practice made the decision to > become a "paperless office" two years ago. However, the transition to > electronic records proved more difficult than he envisioned. > > Dom Dera, who was accustomed to quickly jotting down notes taken during > patient visits and flipping through papers, says that only in the past > year has he gotten his typing groove back. > > "I'm actually starting to see the benefits of a class I took in high > school: typing," said Dom Dera, who, at 37, is relatively young. "I've > gotten pretty good at typing and clicking while still maintaining eye > contact. At the same time, I'm cognizant that sometimes it's more > appropriate for me to stop typing, close my laptop, and just listen. I > guess that's the art versus the science of medicine." > > Dom Dera and his colleagues, including the nursing staff, now use tablet > PCs connected to a wireless network. Nothing is stored locally, and the > data gets transmitted in real time without the need for a Save button, > he said. > > That doesn't sound anything like my doctor; he's terrific but definitely > old-school. Getting back up to speed when it comes to using a keyboard > only hints at the challenges older physicians face in trying to adapt to > a world in which new technologies regularly proliferate throughout the > larger society. > > "That's exactly it," said Lasik surgeon Feinerman, who is 42. "I grew up > in the computer age. This is just my generation. I still feel old when I > come to the office, and most of the staff is in (its) 20s and 30s. But > I'm trying to use tech and have a proactive attitude to make our > practice fun and keep people in touch." > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) > >
