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
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
Zooming Court From the Operating Room
As health professionals we’ve all multitasked on Zoom calls. But few of us have done Zoom calls with a patient asleep in front of us. Recently we heard the story of a California plastic surgeon Zooming court from the operating room with a patient on the operating table. “Hello, Mr. Green? Hi, are you available for trial?” a courtroom clerk said as Dr. Green, ... Continue Reading about Zooming Court From the Operating Room
Compromised connection: Lessons from a Year of Telemedicine
Let’s face it: Telemedicine isn’t there yet. I’ve been treating patients for nearly a year by remote care and so far I’m underwhelmed. And my patients have voted with their feet — most still want to see me in person. I suspect they're not happy with the compromised connection that telemedicine delivers. So I want to unpack some of my ideas on telemedicine. ... Continue Reading about Compromised connection: Lessons from a Year of Telemedicine
Stanford’s COVID Vaccine Algorithm – What We Can Learn
Stanford stepped in just before Christmas when they distributed their COVID vaccine supply according to a homemade algorithm. When the vaccine algorithm was unleashed it invited non-patient facing personnel and only one resident as part of the vaccine’s first phase. It apparently failed because residents as institutional nomads had no ‘home base’ or address that ... Continue Reading about Stanford’s COVID Vaccine Algorithm – What We Can Learn
Telemedicine and Our Transitional Moment
In 2020 with the nearly overnight adoption of telemedicine we experienced a variant what 20th century media theorist Marshall McLuhan called the transitional moment. It basically suggests that when we are faced with a new media we tend to use it in a way that reiterates the old media. The early use of YouTube, for example, mimicked television. It took years before ... Continue Reading about Telemedicine and Our Transitional Moment