For most of history, medical diagnosis came through a series of chaotic steps. Patients experienced a string of studies, samples, and images coupled with a doctor’s judgment offering a best-guess answer. Or, in many cases, just a guess. Increasingly, diagnosis is being be reduced to simple transactions. Clean point-of-care testing based on molecular and marker ... Continue Reading about The Opportunity of Scarcity in Healthcare
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?
Advice for Medical Graduates That We Least Expect
Every year that physicians have used social media, we’ve been talking about the July start for new doctors. And every year we offer our advice for medical graduates. Each year new grads echo their cries of reservation. And each year we stand by telling them that everything is going to be okay. Tips and tricks for surviving the unsurvivable are almost too numerous ... Continue Reading about Advice for Medical Graduates That We Least Expect
Will the Final Rule Change How Doctors Document?
I've been wondering: Will the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule change how doctors document? Recently Skeptical Scalpel (surgeon, writer and senior member of the Twitter intelligentsia) shared the experience of a family member who was worried about her cervical MRI report: My 38 year old non-medical daughter just got the results of her cervical spine MRI online. ... Continue Reading about Will the Final Rule Change How Doctors Document?
Genius Bar for Healthcare – Not Ready for Primetime
A challenge was thrown down on Twitter recently: If we had a Genius Bar for healthcare what would it look like? (paraphrased and originally asked by health designer Nick Dawson) I’ve seen this question before and it reflects a recurring ideal in healthcare: the efficient, service-oriented transactional experience where a problem is identified and fixed. But the ... Continue Reading about Genius Bar for Healthcare – Not Ready for Primetime