Wow. I've just taken care of three patients in 12 minutes, and I didn't do it by "churning" them through my office as if it's some sort of factory assembly line. Rather, those patients (their parents, more specifically -- I'm a pediatrician), e-mailed me over a secure network with questions and descriptions of signs and symptoms.The articles goes on to list some advantages and disadvantages of healthcare IT. Read the article here .
One mother attached a digital photo of a rash on her 3-month-old daughter's face; it turned out be nothing more serious than baby acne (it'll go away in a month or so). Another mom had noticed that her son was missing one of his pre-kindergarten immunizations (she had pulled up his shot records online) and requested that I order it. And the father of a 5-month-old boy told me that his son has been constipated off and on for the last month. I e-mailed him a questionnaire so I could determine whether the family should try something at home or bring the child to the office.
Source: Rahul Parikh, In Practice; The doctor is in and logged on; Let's not pass notes or play phone tag anymore: E-mail and e-records do it better., Los Angeles Times, Health Section, Features Desk, Part E, pg. 1 (July 20, 2009)
No comments:
Post a Comment