February 3rd, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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I was talking to a fellow physician about a mutual patient. I had information that would help him in their care and he was taking the unusual step of asking me for my information. I was impressed.
“Could you fax me those documents?” he asked. ”Here’s my fax number.”
I scrambled to get a pen to write down his number. Then I had a thought: “I could email you those documents much easier. Do you have an email address?”
Silence.
After a long pause, he hesitantly responded, “I would rather you just fax it.” He said no more. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
December 30th, 2009 by eDocAmerica in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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As 2009 draws to a close, the US health care system is ailing and quasi-reform proposals are frantically being debated and voted on. Although some type of reform is likely in 2010, we will have only scratched the surface of what still needs to be changed.
One particular aspect relates to the ease with which patients can use the internet to improve their health care. At eDocAmerica, we’ve been using the internet to improve the health of our users for over a decade. Ten years ago, I predicted that patients would routinely use internet messaging to interact with the health care industry by now, but I was wrong. Although, increasingly, web 2.0 approaches are providing innovative communication and health management tools for patients, the growth of interaction between patients and doctors has been much slower than I predicted it would be. And the future still remains cloudy. The issues are nothing new and include: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at eDocAmerica*
December 16th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
1 Comment »
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*
December 13th, 2009 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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We assume that technology will improve communication between doctors and patients.
But not always.
Look at the 2,000 word email.
While it isn’t yet the standard means of communication in our clinic (it will be soon) we occasionally take email from patients. My experience has been that they’re sometimes long and unfocused with tangential information irrelevant to the problem at hand. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
