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*
My Practice Partners On A House Call
My friend and Better Health contributor, Toni Brayer, recently polled her blog audience about their opinion of concierge medicine. She describes concierge medicine this way:
Also known as “retainer” practice, concierge is a growing type of medical practice where the patient pays the physician an up front fee (retainer) for services. The fee can range from $100/month to $20,000/year, depending upon the practice and the services offered. The fee usually covers all visits to the doctor, phone calls, more prompt service and email access. Labs, tests, Xrays, referrals to specialists, and hospitalization are not included.
Her readers responded: Read more »
On the heels of the American Hospital Association’s recent demonstration of gross discrepancies in the Dartmouth group’s data, MedPAC released its December 2009 report to Congress showing the same. Confirming data for 2000 (reported in their 2003 report), MedPAC demonstrated much less variation among states and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) than described by Dartmouth for states or hospital referral regions (HRRs). Closer scrutiny of MedPAC’s data reveals even more. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at PHYSICIANS and HEALTH CARE REFORM Commentaries and Controversies*
Three of my children love to play the game ‘Life,’ where players choose college or career and are paid, take out loans, pay taxes, have families and all the rest as they navigate towards retirement. I especially love playing with them when they each become frantic, not for the highest income, but to finish the game with the most children. Along the way, my daughter is even naming her kids as the tiny blue and pink pegs fill up her little plastic car. (Talk about your parental validation!)
But after playing, then thinking back on my week at work, I fear that we could easily make a new game that was more familiar to many modern kids. I suppose we’d have to call it ‘The Game of Death,’ or maybe just ‘The Game of Pain.’ Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at edwinleap.com*
Have electronic medical records made a difference in patient care?
According to a study looking at digital medical record adoption of 3,000 hospitals, electronic records have made little difference in cost or quality of care.
That’s discouraging, considering that the government is investing billions of dollars into the technology.
Very few physicians use electronic record systems effectively. For instance, many are simply scanning paper records into a computer, which provides minimal benefit. It’s difficult to track quality improvement data doing that. The problem is further compounded by the archaic interfaces that the current generation of EMRs have, which is akin to a user interface circa Windows 95.
It’s no wonder that most doctors find electronic medical systems actually slows them down. The next generation of systems needs to focus on facilitating the doctor-patient encounter, rather than being an impediment. Taking a few lessons from Google, and improving the user interface would be a good start.
Only then can EMRs realize the potential relied upon by the government and health reformers.
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
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