As reported by Politico, Epic CEO Judy Faulkner found herself in hot water when she told Joe Biden that, irrespective of access, he wouldn't understand his medical record. The social health infosphere was outraged. My take: Judy was wrong to imply that Joe shouldn't have access to his stuff. Judy was right to suggest that a chunk of Joe's stuff is beyond what he ... Continue Reading about The Illusion of Empowerment
Procedure – The Only One That Matters
I've done some 10,000 endoscopic procedures over the past 25 years. Sometimes I offer that procedure number as a context for risk when discussing endoscopy. This morning when discussing consent with a mother she remarked, 'But this is the only one that matters.' You may have done a procedure 10,000 times. But for the individual patient there's only one that ... Continue Reading about Procedure – The Only One That Matters
White Board Documentation Beats the EHR
It's a recurring story: A mother brings her child for follow-up. When discussing how things have gone, mom summons her phone and references a white board picture taken during her initial visit. It's a picture that outlines what her child has and what we're doing doing about it. Collaborative thinking on a white board is central to the patient encounter As most of my ... Continue Reading about White Board Documentation Beats the EHR
Patient Experience and the Art of Visiting
A grandmother brought her grandchild to see me recently. Several minutes into our dialog she stopped me, put her hand on my arm and said, "You're a fine doctor." "Thats so kind,” I said. “But, honestly, how do you know? We've barely met." She winked and said, “I can tell by how you talk to me.” After countering with the suggestion that she looked too young to ... Continue Reading about Patient Experience and the Art of Visiting
Listicles as the Next Health Education Tool
A digital health colleague recently declared that she didn’t like listicles. As you hopefully know, a listicle is a chunk of writing shaped as a list. Wikipedia sums it up: In journalism and blogging, a listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure, but is fleshed out with sufficient copy to be published as an article. A typical ... Continue Reading about Listicles as the Next Health Education Tool
Continuous Glucose Monitors in the Healthy
This report on healthy people using diabetes monitors is worth a peek. It seems there's a growing number of people without diabetes using continuous glucose monitors to understand how their lifestyle impact blood sugar. CGMs are federally approved medical devices designed to help individuals with diabetes understand and control blood glucose. I think it’s ... Continue Reading about Continuous Glucose Monitors in the Healthy