Goodhart’s law suggests that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. When I first read this I couldn’t help but think of healthcare and the quest for the perfect patient satisfaction score. The problem is that as soon as we steer physician behavior and teach to the test, patient satisfaction scores stop being a valid measure. Essentially, ... Continue Reading about Goodhart’s law and patient satisfaction
Friction in Healthcare – Why More Could be Better
In Silicon Valley there is a concept referred to as friction. It’s the idea that you’ve got to remove every bit of inconvenience or work that gets in the way of a digital interaction. It’s about making things as easy as possible to get done. Reducing friction leads to higher conversion which means it gets you to do what the app wants you to do. I've been thinking ... Continue Reading about Friction in Healthcare – Why More Could be Better
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
Docsplaining – An Unfair Generalization of Physicians
Docsplaining is the subject of a recent Postgraduate Medical Journal viewpoint by Dr. John Launer. Docsplaining, as described, is an endemic issue that characterizes physicians as condescending and uncaring actors in their communication with patients. This paper is worth reading if for nothing else than to illustrate the lens through which some physicians view ... Continue Reading about Docsplaining – An Unfair Generalization of Physicians
When Patients See a New Doctor
I recently filled in for a colleague who couldn’t make it to clinic. Families were given the option to reschedule but most were fine seeing me, the new doctor. Some of these children had seen my colleague for years. And few knew what it was like to talk to someone different about their child’s chronic bowel disease. It was kind of a big deal. What were ... Continue Reading about When Patients See a New Doctor
Human Experience of Disease and Patient Expectations
Running an algorithm for the management of a well-typed tumor or a child with a septic joint is relatively easy. But managing the expectations of that cancer patient or nervous mother is something more involved. Expectations are how we imagine the future given what we currently know and understand. Patient expectations are part of the human experience of ... Continue Reading about Human Experience of Disease and Patient Expectations