It’s always kind of a surprise when you read a patient’s chart, and you see an examination of a body part they just don’t have. Just the other day, I was reading a consult note on a patient of mine who had been seen by a subspecialist…
Category: Tech
Adopting the DoorDash model to health delivery
I was reading an article in The New York Times entitled, “The Rise of the Virtual Restaurant.” More and more people, particularly in urban settings, are using apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash to bring fresh, warm food directly to …
5 ways to lessen the physician burden in the product evaluation process
Keeping tabs on the sheer volume of medical drugs and devices on the market is nearly impossible – the FDA approved a record 105 novel medical devices and 59 new drugs in 2018 alone. At the same, hospitals and physicians face ever-growing pressure to c…
The limitations of artificial intelligence in cardiology
Artificial intelligence (#AI) seems to be all the rage these days, as it should be, given its potential to revolutionize medicine in many ways. #AI is actually already an integral part of many of our lives on Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other sites. …
When an EHR is hacked by Russians
Hippocrates didn’t have a server. In 2012 our practice invested $300,000 into building computer infrastructure and the purchase of a brand-spanking-new electronic health record, commonly referred to as an EHR. The mandate for this purchase was br…
How have EMRs changed the doctor-patient relationship?
I have penned several posts on the pitfalls of the electronic medical record (EMR) system that we physicians must use. Indeed, I challenge you to find a doctor who extols the EMR platform without qualification. Sure, there are tremendous advantages, …
5 steps to fix our EMR disaster
The EMR has become a focal point in the physician burnout discussion. Although I believe EMRs are a necessary evil, current iterations of them are just not good. Each click on a mouse is a prick on the many good souls that figuratively bleed until they…
When physicians focus more on screens than patients
As Wei Wei Lee sat with her doctor to discuss starting a family, she felt a “distance” between them. The physician was busy on the computer and focused on the screen. “It just didn’t feel very personal,” Lee said. “I didn’t feel heard.” It seemed as th…
How technology ruined, and can save, the doctor-patient relationship
Each year, Medical Economics surveys physician readers to find out what irks them most. Topping the latest list: insurance paperwork, followed closely by electronic health records (EHRs). The reason is the same for both. Insurers and EHRs get between d…
Patients: Take back your health information. Here’s how.
Have you ever wondered why your personal health information essentially belongs to your health care provider or institution? I mean: why do they keep your information under lock and key, and you have to sign a release to get it? After all, it’s your bl…
