Doctors are obsessed with bedside manner. This made sense when the exchange between a patient and doctor occurred at the bedside. The bedside was the context of care. When you were sick, you were confined to bed. You saw the doctor when you were sick. In bed, typically. When a doctor was empathetic, we said he had good bedside manner. This was how we ranked ... Continue Reading about Bedside Manner
Reactive and Creative Spaces
When I look at my day there are 2 spaces that occupy my time. The first is my creative space. This is where I shape things that didn't exist before. Ideas, programs, writing, new presentations and initiatives. Next is my reactive space. This is the operational part of my day. Most of this time is centered on problems or emerging issues. Something arises and I ... Continue Reading about Reactive and Creative Spaces
Doctors as Victims of Screen Positioning
I had dinner recently with a pediatrician friend who was dinged on a patient experience survey for not having eye contact. Her response was that the computer was in the wrong place. Not her problem, she argued, but rather an issue of clinic space design. Hmm. When technology becomes perfect it will respond to us. Until then, we have to work with our technology and ... Continue Reading about Doctors as Victims of Screen Positioning
The Problem with Human Communication
Here Sherpaa founder Jay Parkinson riffs on why video may be an overrated health communication tool. Traditional asynchronous text dialog, he argues, is perhaps our best option. His discussion sparked dialog since it flies in the face of what seems to be an inevitable trajectory toward telehealth. The problem with human communication is that it’s nuanced. ... Continue Reading about The Problem with Human Communication
Yes, Doctor
Not long ago I cared for the child of a family from a distant country. When I walked in, they stood up. When I walked out, they stood up. It was like The People’s Court. They agreed with whatever I said. Their obsequious nodding whenever I spoke made me feel brilliant. They treated me as though I knew it all. The problem was that the family’s insistence on ... Continue Reading about Yes, Doctor
Cut and Paste Medicine
I saw it begin to happen in the '90's. Residents came to rounds with their daily notes produced on a word processor. The notes were impressive. Legible, lengthy and meticulously detailed at first glance. Then I started to notice a pattern. The impressive notes began to look very much alike. The thorough exam varied little from patient to patient. And ... Continue Reading about Cut and Paste Medicine