This sounds like a crazy question. But it really isn’t. What does a doctor do? What's my job with my patients. What is a doctor's role? Some of what I do is transactional. Simple stuff with clear end-points. Some of it involves critical conversations and deeper kinds of thinking, planning, and translating. Breaking my job down into different roles I got to ... Continue Reading about What is a Doctor’s Role?
MyChart Messages the Wild West of Patient Communication
Medicine is facing a crisis of information. Beyond the increase of biomedical information are rising demands for physician response to portal messaging (MyChart messages) and review of wearable generated data. More recently health professionals have seen a rise in MyChart messages coming in through the Epic patient portal. According to Epic, the number of ... Continue Reading about MyChart Messages the Wild West of Patient Communication
Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
Since the pandemic healthcare has undergone a remarkable transformation. Before COVID dropped in as our latest wicked problem, technology was upending everything we do. I’ve been thinking a lot about the burnout, confusion, uncertainty, and exhaustion that we’re facing. I've been thinking about the conditions that define healthcare. When we talk about these ... Continue Reading about Three Conditions That Define Healthcare
The Illusion of Eye Contact with Telemedicine
I’m big on eye contact with patients. It’s how we show ourselves as humans. The eyes are the windows to the soul. Through them, we build trust, empathy and reciprocity. When I’m with a patient face-to-face it isn’t always possible but I do my best. Like the IRL experience I try to achieve some level of eye contact during telemedicine encounters. But care through ... Continue Reading about The Illusion of Eye Contact with Telemedicine
Continuous Glucose Monitoring and the Clinical Landscape
Continuous glucose monitoring is gaining traction in the management of type 2 diabetes. And with that primary care doctors are picking up the role of helping patients manage their diabetes. Katie Palmer of StatNews tells the story here. The piece on continuous glucose monitoring highlights a couple of emerging issues in clinical care: Health professionals are ... Continue Reading about Continuous Glucose Monitoring and the Clinical Landscape
What Makes Doctors Dispensable?
There’s a lot of anxiety among doctors about things like artificial intelligence and automation. You don’t have to look very far to find stories and discussions about doctors being replaced. So should we be concerned? Are doctors dispensable? Here’s an idea: If what you do as a physician is easy, maybe you should be nervous. Because… Rote transactional care ... Continue Reading about What Makes Doctors Dispensable?